Borno Government in collaboration with partners has commenced campaign on maternal health in 488 sites across the state.
Speaking at the flagging-off exercise in Maiduguri on Monday, the Executive Director, 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 Health Week (MNCHW) involved deworming, administration of Vitamin A supplement, 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 per cent), malaria diarrhoea, and pneumonia (up to 44 per cent).
“In addition to combating worm infestation, deworming has the added advantage of reducing the likelihood of other infections,” Arab said.
The director also observed that conducting nutritional screening during the exercise would help in timely identification of children at risk of severe malnutrition at early stage for timely intervention.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Mohammed Ghuluze, said the campaign would provide 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 temporary fixed post located within the communities aims to provide preventive measures against yellow fever,” Ghuluze said.
In his remarks, the representative of UNCEF, Dr Hassan Malgwi, lauded the effort of Borno Government in area of health and assured UNICEF 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 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.
The representative of traditional rulers at the occasion who is also the District Head of Damboa, Alhaji Zanna Lawan-Maina, urged women to ensure maximum use of the opportunity provided the week for various health services. (NAN)
