Africa-Press – Liberia. Liberia’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Francis N. Kateh, has called for a holistic approach to remedying the country’s health system that will be beneficial to all who live in this land of Liberty.
Kateh maintained that our health system has to be rebranded on the theme, “Trust your health system for a vibrant and sustainable Liberia.”
The Liberia chief medical officer made these remarks on Monday, July 3, at the start of a week-long capacity building for health CSOs in Monrovia.
The capacity-building workshop, being organized by Naymote Partners for Democratic Development in collaboration with the Liberia Civil Society Activity (CSA), a USAID-funded program, brought together 18 participants, two from each civil society member within the CSA Health CSOs Coalition from Montserrado, Nimba, and Lofa Counties.
He noted health plays a pivotal role in the lives of citizens; hence, the conduit for providing health has to be trusted, placing emphasis on a holistic approach from the accreditation of schools to the recruitment of students, monitoring and evaluating the various institutions, and making sure that they are preparing the future healthcare providers with the requisite knowledge.
Kateh said in the same vein, standardization should never be compromised at any level.
He added, “When future providers understand the task they have to bear and the result that may yield to better or cessation of life, the burden of delivering effective and efficient health, inclusive of prevention, is key to maintaining one’s health, but if that is not done, the curative aspect has to be appropriately diagnosed, followed by succinct management, which can’t be overemphasized.”
Kateh, however, urged the health CSO participants not to compromise their advocacy for personal gains.
He said, “You have a great role to play that would ultimately lead to trust between the health system and the general public. You are the gatekeeper and the bridge that link the two.”
Earlier in his remarks, Eddie D. Jarwolo, Executive Director of Naymote, told the participants that the workshop for the health coalition partners is designed to build relationships, develop a shared vision, and define the roles and responsibilities of each coalition partner within the coalition.
“The health CSOs will learn how to participate in health advocacy, strategy development, policy engagement, and budget training on gender and social inclusion,” he disclosed.
He further said that as part of the workshop, the participants will learn how to develop policy influence trackers that include a GESI dimension, enabling coalition members to monitor and report on the coalition’s effort to mainstream GESI consideration in analysis and advocacy, etc.
“Today, what we are going to do is build their capacity to develop strategies in terms of advocacy to ensure that the health system improves for all Liberians at a different level,” Eddie added.
According to him, the training is also meant to identify gaps within the health sector and how healthcare delivery can be improved in the country as well.
Francis Kempah, CSA Deputy Chief of Party, praised the executive director of Naymote and other collaborators for organizing the training that will increase Liberians’ ability to advocate for policy execution and changes, among other things.
The CSOs project is a five-year program designed to track development challenges in the country, Kempah told the participants.
“Basically, it is intended to advocate for change in the system and ensure that things are working properly. Policymakers are committed to what they are supposed to do,” he concluded.
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