Borno Gov’t Launches Maternal Health Campaign For MNCH Week
In partnership with several organisations, the Borno State Government has begun a maternal health campaign on maternal health in 488 communities across the state.
Speaking at the flagging-off exercise in Maiduguri on Monday, the Executive Director of the Borno State Primary Health Care Development, Prof. Mohammed Arab, said the exercise would last for five days.
Arab said that the bi-annual Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW) involved deworming, administration of Vitamin A supplements, nutritional screening and other health promotion services.
“Vitamin A supplementation alone has shown to have significant benefits in reducing under-fire mortality by up to 34 per cent.
“It also offers protection to children from various diseases such as measles (up to 54 percent), malaria diarrhoea, and pneumonia (up to 44 percent). In addition to combating worm infestation, deworming has the added advantage of reducing the likelihood of other infections.”
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The director also observed that conducting nutritional screening during the exercise would help in the timely identification of children at risk of severe malnutrition at an early stage for timely intervention.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Mohammed Ghuluze, said the campaign would provide a valuable opportunity for women and children to access interventions for free.
“I would also like to use this opportunity to announce the upcoming Integrated Yellow Fever Preventive Mass Vaccination campaign that will be held in three LGAs. The Vaccination will be conducted at health facilities and temporarily fixed posts located within the communities aims to provide preventive measures against yellow fever,” Ghuluze said.
In his remarks, the representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Dr. Hassan Malgwi, lauded the effort of the Borno Government in the area of health and assured UNICEF’s commitment to continue to provide technical support.
In his remarks, Dr Bashar Abdul-Baki, the State Coordinator of Alive and Thrive (FHI360), another key partner to Borno in primary healthcare delivery, reiterated the commitment of the organisation towards the success of the week.
“A&T will be supporting the MNCH week implementation to ensure optimal quality of services and improved geographical coverage,” Abdul-Baki said.
Alhaji Zanna Lawan-Maina, the representative of traditional rulers and the District Head of Damboa, urged women to ensure the maximum use of the opportunity that has been provided for various health services.
