The Anambra State Government has inaugurated Task Shifting and Task Sharing Policy Document For Essential Health Services.


The event which took place in Awka attracted officials of the State Ministry of Health, development partners, professional bodies in the health sector among others.



Task Shifting and Task Sharing, is one of the strategies for accelerating the progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal Three, which is health and well-being of all.


Anambra State Task Shifting and Task Sharing Policy identified specific task and responsibility to be shifted from highly qualified Medical Health Personnel to low qualified Medical Health Personnel.


Inaugurating the policy document, Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Vincent Okpala said that Task Shifting is the rational redistribution of tasks among health workforce teams, where specific tasks are moved where appropriate, from highly qualified health workers to health workers with short training and fewer qualifications in order to make more efficient use of the available human resources for health.


The Commissioner noted that one of the barriers of access to essential health care services in Nigeria is shortage and inequitable distribution of the appropriate cadres of the health workforce to deliver the services where they are most needed and assured that the State government will continue to improve on the health sector of the State.


The Head of the Department of Reproductive Health, Anambra State Ministry of Health, Dr. Uju Okoye said that the formulation of the policy which she described as rigorous, commenced since 2018 and explained that the domestication of the policy in Anambra State will help various health workers to know where they can discharge their duties effectively.


In their various submissions, the Head of the Department of Planning, Research and Statistics, Anambra State Ministry of health, Mrs. Edith Nwachukwu and the Ministry’s Director of Public Health and Disease Control, Dr. Uchechukwu Onyejimbe appreciated those who played roles in the formulation of the policy and pointed out that the policy will help in health care delivery.


The Executive Secretary, Anambra State Health Insurance Agency, Dr.
Simeon Onyemaechi, the Executive Secretary, Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Chioma Ezenyimulu, professional bodies and development partners, delivered goodwill messages at the event.


The event reached its crescendo with the unveiling of the policy document by the Commissioner for health, Dr. Okpala