DG NSCC, Emem Omokaro handing over her proposal for collaboration with NPHDA to the Director, Community Health Services, Dr Usman Adamu in Abuja recently
After a technical meeting between the National Senior Citizens Center (NSCC) and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHDA) in Abuja recently; the two agencies recently agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding for a robust and inclusive healthcare delivery model for senior citizens in Nigeria across the tiers of government.
Dr. Emem Omokaro who led her team to the technical session demanded the NPHDA capture geriatric assessment and care for older people.
She also demanded support training of Primary Health Care Workers on care for older people; provide sensitization on healthy lifestyle and nutrition for senior citizens and a technical working group on older people to be established for improved collaboration.
NSCC DG also appealed for increased attention for older persons in the communities by the NPHDA as much as it is not distracted from its mandate of attending to reproductive maternal newborn and child health concerns.
Dr. Omokaro noted that the NPHCDA is key to the core mandate of the NSCC which is bringing Health Care to the doorsteps of the people, including the senior citizens in all communities not minding where they reside mostly as a greater percentage of older people live in rural communities and hard to reach locations.
A statement by the NSCC Head of Public Affairs, Media and Communication, Omini Oden said the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, represented by the Director, Community Health Services, Dr. Usman Adamu said that the NPHCDA care for Senior Citizens is key to reducing morbidity rate in the country and in the front burner to be explored for the older people include control of non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, testing for cancer, Alzheimer diseases and other complications.
“The NPHDA through the Department of Community Health Services commits to collaborate with the National Senior Citizens Centre to fashion out concrete strategies for reaching older people with basic health care services.”
It will be recalled that the health and wellbeing of senior citizens have not really been at the forefront of health and social welfare intervention programmes before now.
