APIN Public Health Initiatives

Happy International Day of the Girl Child! This year’s theme, “Girls’ Vision for the Future” calls on all of us to be relentless and persistent in our individual and concerted efforts to advocate for and enforce girls’ rights, while eliminating discrimination, exclusion and inequalities in access to health, career opportunities, education and wealth creation. In spite of the odds stacked against them, girls are courageous, fearless and determined in their pursuit of a brighter future for themselves, their families and communities, and APIN is committed to supporting them to achieve just that! #internationaldayofthegirl #dayofthegirl #idg2024 #girlpower

APIN is in Lisbon, Portugal for the ongoing annual Impact First Digital Development Summit, hosted by BAO Systems. As an organization that is constantly seeking to improve the quality, efficiency and impact of our programs, we are excited to join leading experts and organizations from the #globalhealth and development sector as we explore the limitless possibilities and applications of #datasolutions and digital technologies for facilitating better development and #publichealth outcomes. #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPiN #WorkAtAPIN 
#impactfirst

Our CAPS clients have all the fun! To participate in the health talks in our CAPS programme, you need to meet two criteria. One, you need to be pregnant, and two, you need to be able to dance! APIN implements the Congregational Approach to optimizing PMTCT Services (CAPS) programme, leveraging Faith-based organizations and religious institutions to reach pregnant women with a minimum package of antenatal services including health education, HIV and Syphilis testing and monitoring of vital signs in pregnancy. The programme is operational in five states and this exciting session took place at in Ibadan, Oyo State. We are deeply grateful to our funder, U.S. CDC Nigeria, for the resources to implement this life-changing intervention; to our amazing volunteers for all the work they put in to make these sessions engaging and meaningful for our Mummies-to-be and to the churches, mosques and religious institutions who partner with us and give us access to their congregations and places of worship. #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPIN #WorkAtAPIN #momtobe

It all goes down at our Adolescent and Young Persons (AYP) hubs. With funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Nigeria, APIN has set up AYP hubs in five states. Our team of experts work closely with CDC, government agencies and community-based organizations to ensure that the hubs are equipped and adequately staffed to provide adolescent-friendly health services, #counselling and training on a wide range of marketable vocational skills to AYPs regardless of their #HIVStatus. The activities and curriculum at the hubs guarantees that the AYPs have loads of fun while being mentored and empowered to sustain themselves financially and make informed choices that can prevent gender-based violence (GBV), #HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPIN #WorkAtAPIN

With funding from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and in line with APIN's efforts to improve #DiseaseSurveillance and responsiveness to #publichealth emergencies in Nigeria, we officially presented IT equipment and appliances to the Ogun State Ministry of Health. The donated items were received by the Ogun State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Tomi Coker and will in no small way, facilitate #RealTime access to health data for prompt #decisionmaking while ensuring the optimal performance of the Ogun State Emergency Operations Centre (EOC). #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPIN #WorkAtAPIN #realtimedata

We heartily celebrate Dr. Okikiolu BADEJO who was recently awarded a Ph.D for his research project titled, “Understanding why and how adolescent-friendly conditions of health services affect outcomes among adolescents and young adults living with #HIV in Nigeria”. The project was supervised by leading experts from the Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp (ITM), the University of Antwerp in Belgium and by our Associate Director of Clinical Services, Dr Plang Jwanle MD, PhD. This is in line with as APIN’s global #collaborations to strengthen the health workforce, and to participate in #research that generates knowledge and strategies to tackle a myriad of #publichealth challenges including HIV/AIDS. Dr. Jwanle also served on the jury for Dr. Badejo’s Ph.D thesis defence, sharing his unique experience and insight into the key challenges in the delivery of Youth Friendly Health Services (YFHS) for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYA) living with #HIV. Hearty congratulations again to Dr Okikiolu Badejo and to our very own Dr. Plang Jwanle for such a laudable feat! #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPIN #WorkAtAPIN

APIN and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Nigeria hosted a Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Skills Workshop for M&E staff of CDC/PEPFAR Implementing Partner organizations including IHV-Nigeria, CIHPNG, ECEWS Ltd/Gte, Caritas Nigeria. The just concluded five-day training was a significant step towards enhancing the #data management capacities of IPs and government stakeholders. By focusing on key areas such as data analytics, management and visualization, the training equipped participants to improve data quality and usage in their organizations and project states; leading to evidence-based decision making and consequently, better health outcomes. #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPIN #WorkAtAPIN

Accurate data is essential for correctly assessing patients' progress and health outcomes, and to effectively plan, evaluate and improve the quality of health services. To strengthen their capacity to manage patient health data using new and existing technology, the Health Informatics (HI) teams from APIN and PHIS3 across all our project locations participated in a 5-day capacity development training. The skills gained from this training will also ensure that policy makers and stakeholders in the federal & state government and funding organizations including U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can rely on APIN's data for performance monitoring and #decisionmaking. #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPIN #WorkAtAPIN

A competent health workforce is central to Nigeria meeting national and global health targets by 2030 or beyond. As part of the plan to implement the Federal Ministry of Health Nigeria’s “Renewed Health Sector Vision 2023 – 2026”, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), in collaboration with development partners across the country, commenced the training of over 120,000 frontline #healthworkers. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Nigeria, through APIN, is providing funding and technical support for the execution of this training in nine states including Benue State. The 10-day training, which is currently ongoing, will not only strengthen the capacity of frontline health workers in #primaryhealthcare facilities to provide quality health services, but will clarify roles, responsibilities and expectations of all cadres of the #healthworkforce as we work together to achieve the Renewed Health Sector Vision and to improve the health outcomes of Nigerians. #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPIN #WorkAtAPIN

One of the most critical components in the World Health Organization framework for strengthening #healthsystems is Leadership & Governance. With this in mind, our Health Systems Strengthening directorate hosted a workshop on Health Policy Planning and Health Financing for high-level government officials including Commissioners of Health, Directors of Public Health and Executive Secretaries from the Ministries of Health and related agencies of our project states. The workshop was facilitated by seasoned experts with decades of experience working and consulting for government organizations, donor agencies and multilateral organizations within and outside Africa; and utilized engaging cross-learning, strategy and critical analysis methods to identify gaps and proffer practical, sustainable solutions to state-specific health policy and financing challenges. #APINInitiatives #ThisIsAPIN #WorkAtAPIN #capacitybuilding