The Kaduna State Ministry of Health and Human Services on Friday said it had concluded plans for the conduct of maternal Newborn and Child health week on May 27.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Paul Dogo disclosed this during a news conference in Kaduna, saying celebration of the week would be in collaboration with development partners through the Primary Healthcare Development Agency.
According to Dogo, the week is scheduled to run from May 27 to May 31 and that interventions will be provided in 1, 212 health facilities in the 23 local government areas of the state.
“This is an improvement over the previous implementation that took place in only 510 health facilities.
“The adoption and implementation of the MNCH week is to address the high maternal, newborn and child mortality rates, and improve the nutrition status of the pregnant women and children,’’ he said.
He said the week would feature HIV/Aids counselling and testing to eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV.
Dogo added that the week would also looked into child birth spacing to improve on the contraceptive prevalence rate in the state which had been integrated in the package of implementation.
“It is evident that the 16 rounds of MNCH weeks implemented so far in Kaduna state have shown some improvement in the lives of children and mother’s in the state,’’ he said.
He added that in order to continue to strive for better health indices, the MNCH week was still considered to be used regularly in deliberate effort to target both mother and child as inseparable pair.
“The week is set aside to deliver a package of high impact, low-cost preventive and curative services designed to improve maternal health and Child survival through facility based interventions and outreach services.
“These high impact interventions are targeted at children less than five years, pregnant women, breast feeding mother’s and women of reproductive age in conformity with the continuum of care approach.
He said the interventions to be delivered during the week include immunisation, vitamin A supplementation, de-worming of children, screening for malnutrition, birth registration and health promotion.
The commissioner called on parents, pregnant women, caregivers to make good use of the week to uptake the interventions with a view to achieving excellent health for women and children.
He also called on traditional rulers, religious leaders and stakeholders to educate their followers on the importance of the week so as to achieve the desire result.
“Healthcare givers participating in the week should also be committed and selfless to ensure a successful outing,’’ he added. (NAN)
