Effective Use of the National Standing Orders by Community Health Practitioners in Nigeria

The National Standing Orders (NSOs) were introduced by the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) in collaboration with the Community Health Practitioners Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN) to guide Community Health Officers (CHOs), Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), and Junior CHEWs in diagnosis, treatment, and referral procedures in Primary Health Care (PHC) settings. In the context of task shifting and task sharing, NSOs bridge the gap in access to quality healthcare at the grassroots by enabling Community Health Practitioners to provide standardised treatment protocols.