Family planning services provided at the clinics in the city of Port Moresby will be boosted with the recent graduation of 12 new frontline health workers made possible through the partnership between the National Department of Health (NDoH), the National Capital District Provincial Health Authority (NCD PHA) and Marie Stopes PNG.
According to Marie Stopes Service Delivery Director, Dr. Andrew Kirima, the 12 trainees were among 41 health workers who successfully completed the Family Planning training program provided by Marie Stopes. He said this program was initiated to educate and train healthcare workers situated in different clinics across the city, who specialize and are passionate about providing family planning services to the people.
“NCD is the first province in which Marie Stopes has carried out this program since its establishment in 2018, and since then over 500 frontline Health Workers have benefited from this program.”
“Our aim for this program is to educate the health workers so that they can go back to their respective clinics in which they operate and deliver the best family planning service they can to the families,” said Dr. Kirima
He also stated that the program would not have been made possible if it wasn’t for the NDoH and the PHA. He said that without the help of these two organizations Marie Stopes PNG wouldn’t be able to train the health workers.
“We implement the program for the trainees, but NDoH and the PHAs are the ones who bring them forth to us. That is why this partnership is very important to us all because in a way we are helping each other.”
He said the trainees are assessed and certified based on how well they performed during the period of time they undergo the training.
“The program usually takes up to one year of training and is divided into two part, starting with the theory part of training followed by the practical part or on job training.”
However, he said not many of the trainees make it to the end of the program due to obstacles that they may face along the way and if there is a need to extend the program, then they can do so. Otherwise, Marie Stopes will continue with the training with the remaining trainees left in the program.
Dr. Kirima concluded by thanking all partners in making this program a successful one and hopes that this will continue for the benefit of the families nationwide.
He said remote areas in the country are their main areas of concern and Marie Stopes will do its best in delivering better services to them, through these trainings.
Meanwhile, the graduation of the 12 frontline health workers took place last week on Thursday 07th of July in Port Moresby.