SON: 60 Million Nigerians Benefit from Society for Family Health Services

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo

Society for Family Health (SFH) has reached 60 million Nigerians with service, information and products through its outreach health programme in 2018.

The organisation is currently working in the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, where it deploys health system strengthening and innovative market approaches to improve services in the private and public health sector.

Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) while presenting ISO 9001:2015 certificate to SFH in Abuja last week said SFH has worked hard to achieve their vision of ‘healthy lives for all’ and the quest to improve health outcomes by ensuring communities have access to affordable, quality and gender sensitive health service and commodities’.

It said the organisation is very much situated currently at the six geo-political zones in Nigeria, where it deploys health system strengthening and total market approaches to unify the private and public health sector, Scaling and Essential Package of Health Service (EPHS) offering of good quality to all Nigerians.

The organisation which is working in partnership with communities, governments, donors and the private sectors was founded thirty-five years ago has grown to become one of the largest and most respected NGOs operating in Nigeria.

SON noted that the organisation is expected to move further in the quest to gain maximum standard, adding that there would be periodic assessment of audits to make sure that SFH is consistence in gaining the required standard.

On the issue of purchasing of sub-standard products, SON said many people are not aware of how harmful taking substandard products could be to the body system.

It explained that one of the major reason individuals indulge in taking substandard products may be due to economic reasons.

The organisation assured that measures are being put in place to ensure that importation of sub-standard products would be nipped in the bud through the SON Conformity Assessment Program (SONCAP) scheme.

According to SON, the scheme will allow it to test all products coming into the country and ensure that the quality of these products meets the required standard before being granted permit to enter the country.

It further said that the enforcement and compliance directorate will undertake market surveys and testing of products to ensure that products found wanting are traced back to the manufacturer/producers to get them rectified.

Managing Director SFH, Dr Omokhudu Idogho said the certification is a further affirmation of their unshaken commitment to provide the highest standard of service and care to the communities for whom their loyalty stands.

He also said that SFH do not see the certification as an end but rather a clarion call to continue improvement of their management and operational practices.