NAME: ADEGBEYENI IFEDAYO OLUWAMODUPE

MATRIC NUMBER: PG/21/0241

MASTERS IN PUBLIC HEALTH (HEALTH PROMOTION)

NAME OF ORGANISATION: ONDO STATE MINISTRY OF HEALTH

[DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH]

INTERNSHIP DATES: 27TH JUNE TO 28th JULY, 2022

 Description of the organization

• Ondo State is a state in southwestern Nigeria created on 3rd

February 1976. The State Ministry of Health was created in April

1976. It is the driving force of health policies and robust health

reform agenda of the state government.

 The ministry is divided into nine(9) departments;

• Department of Public Health

• Department of Finance and Administration
• Department of Hospital Service • Department of Planning Research and
• Department of Family Health Statistics

• Department of Epidemiology and • Department of Account

Disease Control • Department of Pharmaceutical Services

• Department of Nursing Service

• The Department of Public Health where I
did my internship is further divided into;

• Malaria Prevention Unit

• Neglected Tropical Diseases Unit

• Non Communicable Diseases Unit

• Tuberculosis Unit

• Occupational Health Unit

• Health Promotion and Education Unit

Week 1 Neglected Tropical Diseases [NTD] Unit
• The NTD unit of the Ondo state ministry of health handles non
communicable diseases such as cancer, eye problems and sickle
cell diseases. They create awareness and screening programs in
collaboration with relevant units, persons or organisations.

• The Cervical cancer screening program was about to kick off as at

the time I joined the Monitoring and evaluation team of the unit.
It was in collaboration with World Health Organisation {WHO} and
Clinton Health Access Initiative {CHAI}. The screening was aimed
at secondary prevention of the cancer.
 Responsibilities

• I worked with other team members to inspect the selected health

facilities

• Monitor their progress, check if there are problems and provide

solutions
 Lessons learnt

• Monitoring and evaluation, Team work and Data collection are

important for any health program to be successful

• Data collection applications such as Kobo collect, ODK, Survey

CTO can be used for data collection that involves multiple data

collectors for easy data compilations.

 Lessons learnt cont’d
• The challenges or problems in each community or health facilities
under review should be solved based on their peculiarity.

• Monitoring and Evaluation [M and E] officers should not insist on

their own way, if there is an existing structure within a facility or
community, they should follow it.
Week 2 and 3 - Tuberculosis Unit
The Tuberculosis Unit is in charge of the National
Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme {NTBLCP} in
the state. The unit also partners with Damien Foundation
Belgium {DFB} to manage tuberculosis and leprosy cases
in the state.
 Responsibilities
• I give health talk to all presumptive TB patients

• Educate patients undergoing treatment on the importance of consuming more proteins and
vegetables

• Educate them on how it is transmitted and the need to bring close contacts {family members} for
screening

• If confirmed, educate them on the number, types of drugs, the duration and when to collect their
drugs

• Educate them on the importance of strict adherence

• Signs and symptoms of possible side effects of the drugs. For example; red discolouration of urine,
skin rash, joint pains, poor vision imbalance etc.
 Lessons learnt
• HIV test is necessary for people diagnosed with presumptive TB
• Monitoring the progress of TB should be done monthly
• Acid fast Bacillus {AFB} test is used for follow-up test while Gene
xpert test is used for detection
Monitoring patients can be done through;
AFB in sputum {Sputum microscopy}
Examining the weight and height
Assessing drug intake
Looking at patient’s treatment card for regularity
Signs and symptoms
• Week 4 Health Promotion Unit
 Lessons learnt

Political mobilization is an important part of health promotion.

Lobbying of interest groups influences health promotion policy on government

Training of health promoters and health educators at the community and local government
level is effective in solving behavioural health challenges in the community

The efficiency of health promoters and health educators influences the health of individuals
and the society at large
Engaging local stakeholders for their support before the commencement of any health program
in a community is key to having a successful program or project

Behavioural Change Materials {BCMs} are used to create awareness, generate demand
and effect behavioural change

Lastly, health promotion involves collaboration with various ministries, international

organizations, governmental agencies, professional bodies, private health providers, Non-
Governmental Organizations, faith based organization among others.
 Challenges
• At the end of second quarter, 25 cases of monkeypox was detected in the state.
So, WHO organized a training for all health promotion officers and health
educators in August but I couldn’t attend because of the short time duration of
the internship

• It takes time to give approval for any program or phase. For example, there was
still more health promotion programs waiting for approval but I wasn’t able to
participate because of the short time.
 Recommendations
• I recommend that the internship period should be extended to 3 – 6
months.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING