A’Ibom Govt To Train TBAs For Integration Into Primary Healthcare

By Bassey Nkponam
UYO
The Akwa Ibom government is embarking on the training of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) across the 31 local government areas of the State.
The proposed training is to ensure their services align with the contemporary method, thus making it more acceptable to the larger society, and on completion, successful members will be certified and converted as Community Healthcare workers attached to Primary Healthcare Centres in the State. 
The State governor, Pastor Umo Eno, who stated this, Monday, during the 2025 State Convention of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs), which took place in Uyo, said government intends to partner the TBAs in training their members, certify and supervise them to ensure their services align with the contemporary method, thus making it more acceptable to the larger society.
Eno directed the Ministry of Health to undertake the training of all members of the TBA on local government basis, certify and convert them as Community Healthcare workers attached to Primary Healthcare Centres in the State. 
He said government will be responsible for the trainings, expressing belief that through the 
training, the profile of the Traditional Birth Attendants will take on a different shape and the wealth of their experience will be appropriated for the overall good of the healthcare delivery system to provide an ideal essential service.
According to him, once the trainings are concluded, TBAs will be assigned to help in Primary Healthcare facilities, adding that the training will enable them work with hospitals, know the dos and donts, know how to refer cases, and when to refer such cases immediately they come.
The governor noted that the TBAs have been a part of the social fabric as far as the care of the pregnant mothers are concerned, but as the society evolves, old approaches get subjected to modern and advanced methods to ensure wholesome and holistic outcomes, saluting them for all their contributions to the health sector over time, while imploring them to reinvent the method of carrying out their duties.
Eno said all the effort of government was aimed at aligning it with the current medical advancement and standards, noting that a lot has been done in the health sector as government was building more health care facilities across the state, while it also intends to flag off a full mother and child hospital to be located along the medical corridor between Uyo and Ikot Ekpene Local Government Areas. 
The state chief executive officer thanked them for the part they played during his campaigns, recalling that they mobilised and came out to support him, saying, “That is why I am here today dressed like the Traditional Birth Attendant member to reassure you that I am part of you”.