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….Says Intervention Targets Over 1.2 Million Under 5, Children
MAKURDI: Executive Secretary, (ES), Benue State Primary Health Care Board (BSPHCB), Mrs Grace Ashi Wende has solicited the support of stakeholders for the upcoming Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW), in the state, so as to have a successful exercise.
While she lamented that the state has not done well in others areas of immunisation and that it needs to play ‘catch up”, during the MNCHW, slated for 6th to 10th December, 2024, the ES added that the partnership with stakeholders was paramount towards the success of the exercise in Benue.
The ES who made the call during the state level stakeholders engagement meeting held in Makurdi, last weekend told the stakeholders to see their role as a clarion call towards ensuring that they prepared the grounds for generations yet unborn to live heathy lives.
She explained that the engagement meeting for the MNCHW, which targets the immunisation of over 1.2 million children, under age 5, who are to benefit from the intervention was organised by the Benue State Government in conjunction with Helen Keller Foundation.
The Executive Secretary, who was represented by the Director, Administration and Finance, Emmanuel Terfa Wende, also noted that the aim of the meeting was to reach out to more mothers and by implication more children, so as to improve their health and reduce child mortality rate in the state.
She also stressed that her office would continue to promote the health of mothers during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal care, and also detect and prevent diseases associated with mothers and children.
Ashi Wende stated that “Benue has not done well, we need to catch up and move Benue forward and we have to do this collectively towards health for all”, she charges the stakeholders.
In her presentation at the occasion, the
State Nutrition Officer, Mrs Faustina Shar, said Nigeria has the highest death rate of children and women of child bearing age, globally, a situation which is preventable, if simple measures were applied.
The Nutrition expert who stressed the importance of Vitamin A and deworming medications, said such drugs would be added to the services that would be offered for the children during the week, which would translate to good eye sight, skin and general wellbeing.
Stating the objectives for the MNCHW, the State Health Educator (SHE), BSPHCB, Emmanuel Beeka, appealed to stakeholders to ensure they communicated the target audience of the week long exercise, for increased coverage of immunisation.
He noted that among some of the objectives of the meeting “is to make the stakeholders aware of the intended campaign and to seek their collaboration to facilitate the spread of information and sensitization of people to create the necessary awareness so as to encourage the target group to come out enmass for the exercise.”
Director Ogbadibo Local Government Area Health Authority, Ezekiel Onah, among other participants, pledged to educate, organize, plan, direct, and manage the intervention program to reduce neonatal mortality.
