Lagos Government Collaborates With Organization To Strengthen Data Collection Training Initiatives....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Alive & Thrive (FHI 360), in collaboration with the Lagos State government, has conducted a training session for 20 Monitoring and Evaluation Officers from Community Based Organizations (CBOs) overseeing the Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) Project in seven Local Government Areas (LGAs) within the state. This training, which took place in Lagos, also had representatives from the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board and the Ministry of Health in attendance.

The primary goals of the training were to enhance the participants’ capacity in understanding the MIYCN indicators associated with data elements within the National Health Management Information System (NHMIS) tools and to equip them with the skills necessary for data collection, compilation, and reporting of MIYCN data using the NHMIS tools.

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With the backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Alive and Thrive launched the MIYCN Project in 2022 to expand access to nutrition services in seven states across Nigeria. To implement this project, Alive and Thrive partnered with community-based organizations in various communities.

Mrs. Flora Awosika, Head of Health Statistics at the Lagos State Ministry of Health, explained that the training aimed to build the participants’ capacity in understanding Maternal, Infant, and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) indicators. She highlighted the importance of NHMIS tools in collecting data, which is crucial for monitoring children’s growth from birth to age five, helping identify issues like stunting or underweight.

She commended Alive and Thrive for its support in the area of infant and maternal nutrition programs in the state.

During the training, Zainab Agbalaya, a Monitoring and Evaluation Officer from Lagos Island LGA, emphasized how the training would contribute to generating data for MIYCN interventions. She acknowledged the significance of accurate data collection for informed decision-making in community and facility-based programs, especially in improving child health and reducing mortality rates.

Regarding challenges in data collection at primary health facilities, Agbalaya pointed out that reporting has been a major hurdle. She stressed the importance of proper data capture to ensure accurate reporting.

Hassan Yussuf, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of Champagne Foundation, mentioned that the trained officers hailed from Mushin, Alimosho, Badagry, Lagos Island, Apapa, Shomolu, and Epe LGAs. He emphasized that the training would enhance the knowledge of health workers in maintaining accurate records. Yussuf highlighted that the NHMIS training focused on correctly filling registers and tools used in health facilities, including growth monitoring tools, labor and delivery registers, and registers for pregnant women’s antenatal care visits.