The Nigerian Government, through the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, OHCSF, has vowed to address preventable Non-Communicable Diseases, NCDS, and sudden deaths among the workforce.
The Head of Civil Service of the Federation said this was of paramount necessity and in line with the government’s 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, Mahmud Adam Kambari, said this during a one-day training workshop for five hundred (500) officers in the Federal Civil Service on Wednesday.
Kambari said that the government was awake to the safety and health of civil servants.
He noted that the service was confronted with a sobering reality of increasing mortality rate among civil servants and there was 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 necessity,” he opined.
Kambari also stated that non-communicable diseases have become a global public health challenge, casting a shadow on the health and efficiency of the civil service workforce.
“This is why we have placed premium on this sensitization to educate officers on healthy living and wellness”, he added.
He further stated that “the commitment of the OHCSF to the wellbeing of her workforce is not just a mere policy statement, it is a moral obligation.”
Earlier, the Director, Occupational Health, Safety and Environment (OHSE), in the OHCSF, Dr. Comfort Adeosun, described workplace wellness as vital to employee wellbeing and the efficiency of organizational operations, adding that there was a linkage between personal wellness and productivity