By Maryam Abubakar Tukur
In a strategic move to enhance the availability and monitoring of essential medicines and family planning commodities, the Kano State Ministry of Health, through the Sustainable Health Commodity Supply System Committee (SHCSS-C) with support from Capacity 4 Sustainable Development (C4SD), has organized a one-day onboarding of Local Government Essential Drug Officers (EDOs) and In-State Team (ISTs) for data collection on essential medicines and family planning commodities.
Speaking at the event, Pharm. Gali Sule, the Director-General Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency(DMCSA), said the initiative is aimed at improving data visibility, consistency, and timeliness of data collection and reporting across health facilities in the state.
"The meeting marks a significant step towards addressing long-standing gaps in supply chain data visibility, stock management, for informed decision-making in the health sector," the DG explained.
He charged the EDOs and ISTs to put the knowledge they acquired at the workshop by playing a critical role in gathering, validating, and reporting data on the availability and usage of essential medicines and reproductive health supplies.
Earlier speaking, the Director Pharmaceutical Services at the State Ministry of Health and Chairman Sustainable Health Commodity Supply System Committee, Pharm. Kamilu Mudi Salisu emphasized the importance of reliable data collection in the health system.
“Reliable data is the foundation of an efficient health system. By strengthening our human resource capacity through the onboarding of these officers, we are laying the groundwork for better forecasting, procurement, and distribution of life-saving commodities.”
The onboarding, held at Tahir Guest Palace, Kano, included a comprehensive orientation and capacity-building to EDOs and ISTs focused on standardized data collection tools and methodologies using digital platforms.
The ISTs and EDOs, who are deployed across the 44 Local Government Areas in the state, are tasked to ensure that even the most remote facilities are included in data management systems. Their work will directly support ongoing efforts to reduce stock-outs and align supply with real-time demand at all levels of care.
In his goodwill message, Pharm. Amos Gwazalyen, the State Team Lead for C4SD, said: “This partnership reflects our shared commitment to improving health outcomes through stronger data systems. These officers will be the backbone of our efforts to ensure quality and reliable data from health facilities for informed decision-making.”
Pharm. Isa Labaran, the State Logistics Management and Coordinating Unit (LMCU) Coordinator, said the objectives of the workshop are to have a data visibility of essential medicines and family planning commodities on a monthly basis through LGA EDOs and ISTs for primary, secondary and tertiary health facilities across the state, and to introduce the digital data collection tools to the data enumerators for effective implementation.
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