The United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Save One Million Life Project, an NGO, have jointly supported the Niger State ‘s Maternal and Newborn Child Health Week (MNCHW) with about N30.8 million.
The amount covered the provision of free medical care for children and women in the state, according to an official.
Mrs Amina Isah, Deputy Director Nutrition in the state Primary Health Care Development Agency and MNCH Focal Person, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Thursday.
NAN reports that the MNCH week is a bi-annual event that was set aside by the National Council of Health in 2010 to provide interventions to children in every six months of the year.
Isah explained that the ongoing MNCH week that started on Jan. 15, and was expected to end Jan. 19, was a carryover of that of November/December 2017 intervention programme.
She explained that the state was observing its own MNCH week in January 2018 because it did not participate in that of November/ December.
The deputy director said that UNICEF was supporting the intervention programme with N14,891,632 million, while Save the One Million Project supported with N15,929,800 million.
She added that the financial assistance from UNICEF and the Save One Million Life Health Project was used to provide drugs, mosquito nets and other free healthcare services to children and pregnant women across the 275 wards of the state.
She noted that the target was to reach out to one million under five children with Vitamin `A’ supplement, Mid Upper Arm Screening for Malnourished children and routine immunisation.
The deputy director added that 3,000 pregnant women would benefit from free anti-natal services, free HIV/AIDS screening and free mosquito nets.
“Before the launching of the week by the wife of the Governor, Dr Amina Bello, on Monday our technical staff were trained and deployed to local government areas on advocacy and social mobilisation.
“In collaboration with UNICEF, monitors from the state, national level and other partners were assigned to hard-to-reach areas to see that the programme is a success.
“So far, there has been cooperation from pregnant women and parents have been bringing their children to the primary healthcare facilities to access medical care,” she added.
Isah appealed to mothers to make use of the weeklong event because of the benefits. (NAN)