By Stella Odueme
In pursuit of a safe work environment and a healthy workforce in the Federal Civil Service, the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, said it has trained a total of 500 officers on quality healthcare.
This was in line with its mandate of optimizing the health and wellbeing of its workforce by providing mental health, behavioural health and general health counselling services for employees.
The Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office (SWO), Mr. Mahmud Adam Kambari, in his opening remarks at a training programme tagged; “Optimizing Health and Wellbeing for Improved Productivity” in Abuja, said that the government is awake to the safety and health of civil servants.
According to him, the training was hinged on promoting healthy living and wellness amongst the workforce in-line with pillar six of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (FCSSIP-25), which aims at enhancing the value proposition of civil servants for improved productivity and effective
service delivery.
He noted that the service is confronted with increasing mortality rate among civil servants, so the need to urgently address the situation.
“As I review the several death notifications that come to my desk every day for death benefit claims, a glaring truth emerges- the need to address preventable Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDS) and sudden deaths amongst the workforce is of paramount necessary,” he said.
He added that non-communicable diseases have become a global public health challenge, casting a shadow on the health and efficiency of the civil service workforce.
He stated that this challenge is further compounded by the stress and sedentary nature of Civil Service work.
“This is why we have placed premium on this sensitization to educate officers on healthy living and wellness”, he said.
