NIGERIA STATE HEALTH INVESTMENT PROJECT

(NSHIP)– PBF INTERNSHIP PROGRAM –

TRIUMPHS AND CHALLENGES

March 2014

Nigeria Health Team

BACKGROUND- NSHPIC

• $170M five-year RBF program

• Extensive capacity building of senior technicians and politicians in PBF courses abroad, and local

• Pre-pilot in three select LGAs in three states since December 2011 with good results

• Delays: Board approval in May 2012; Project Effective in August 2013

• RBF-Technical assistance agency not yet in (long contract negotiations)

• Idea to start building local verification capacity pending the RBF-TA hence the ‘internship program’

BACKGROUND

• The Nigerian PBF Internship commenced in February

2014 in Adamawa, Ondo and Nasarawa-PBF Pilot

States.

• The four month long internship will build capacity of

health professionals in PBF.

• A total of 59 interns were carefully selected through

written tests and panel interviews conducted by

the States.

ANDRAGOGICAL LEARNING METHOD

• Modules are taught using an andragogical

approach.

• Role plays, group discussions, group teach and

plenary discussions are integral to the programme.

• Interns have two weeks of in-class theory and two

weeks of field practice.

• Morning sessions are dedicated to in-class theory

while afternoon sessions are reserved for individual

study and IT training.

TRIUMPHS

• Strong sense of ownership by the states.

• Training of trainers workshop provided structure for

the facilitation of the internship.

• Positive feedback from the interns.

• High of level of course assimilation.

CHALLENGES

• Delay in funding the PBF Internship.

• Administrative bottlenecks within the SPHCDA.

• Waning support of the programme at higher levels

of state government.

INTERVENTIONS

• Strong commitment of the World Bank to the

project and its working relationship with the

National Primary Healthcare Development Agency

• Advocacy to opinion leaders, political leaders and

relevant stakeholders

CONCLUSION

• The internship programme is being conducted as

expected.

• Interns are highly recognizant of the importance

their field experience.

• There is still need to carry political stakeholders

along by way of regular updates