Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, has identified ignorance as a major contributor to the relatively high mortality rate in the country, saying that about 60 percent of Nigerians attribute their health challenges to spiritual sources.
Ewhrudjakpo made the assertion during a courtesy visit by members of the state branch of the Nigerian Association of Health Educators (NAHE) to Government House, Yenagoa.
The deputy governor lamented that most families had lost their loved ones to wrong attribution and erroneous belief systems.
He also noted that apart from insecurity, policy defects and poor implementation of health programmes in the country had led to loss of more lives.
To change the narrative, Ewhrudjakpo stressed the need for public health educators to redefine their roles and functions in the delivery of healthcare services, with a view to carving a respectable niche for themselves in the health sector.
He advised the NAHE delegation that the only way they could distinguish themselves from other health professionals is to make behaviour change communication their main focus.
According to him, there is a need for the association to change its name to reflect what he called “public health education promoters,” noting that virtually every health practitioner in Nigeria claims to be a health educator.
Ewhrudjakpo reminded them that many health problems Nigerians face were diet and lifestyle-related and could be overcome through aggressive public health campaign involving leading Christian, Muslim and other religious organisations.
He said: “You must distinguish what you are doing from what others are doing. You are supposed to do what is called behaviour change communication.
“That is your job. It is your communication that will determine the public’s health attitude. Over 60 percent of Nigerians believe that all their health problems are caused by spiritual reasons.
“You have not been able to change that impression. That is your turf. What are the programmes which you have lined up to change that erroneous belief?
“You need to interface with faith-based organizations like Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN); the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and others to upscale your behavior change communication.”
Earlier in his presentation, the State Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Health Educators, Dr Doubrapade Walker, highlighted the key responsibilities of health educators in the entire spectrum of healthcare delivery system, including social mobilisation and fostering effective community partnership.
Dr Doubrapade Walker, who thanked the deputy governor for squeezing time out of his tight schedule to receive them, appealed to the Bayelsa State Government to come up with a policy framework to fully integrate health educators to function professionally in the health sector of the state.
