By Maria Famakinwa
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The Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW) has been described by the wife of Ondo State Governor, Arabinrin Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu as a welcome bi-annual activity that creates a strategic window of opportunity for cheap and impactful interventions to boost maternal and child health indices in the State.
The First Lady made this known during the official flag-off ceremony for the second round of the 2018 Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child, Adolescent Health +Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) in the state held at Mother and Child Hospital in Akure.
While appealing to pregnant women and mothers to make themselves available at any of the 586 primary health facilities spread across the state between 25th to 29th of this month to benefit from these services. She said the public health approach of public enlightenments and community mobilisation and mass administration of drugs and other consumables is an effective and efficient tool for delivering qualitative health services in our localities.
“The services during the MNCHW shall include Vitamin A supplement and screening for malnutrition for 6-59 months, Deworming tablets for 12-59 months, Routine Immunisation Antigen for 0-11 months, Tetanus Toxoid, Ferrous Sulphate, Sulphadoxine pyrimethamine, Folic acid for pregnant women, HIV Counselling and Testing for women of child bearing age between age 15-49 years, exclusive breast feeding for 0-six months and Birth Registration for 0-18 years.
“For our under- 5 children, the school aged ones shall be visited in their schools by a team of health workers who are uniformly dressed to administer services that are age-appropriate. The media houses are also running jingles to aid the reach of this lofty message to all nook and crannies of our dear state.”
The First Lady commended the Governor of the state, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu for his commitment to all healthcare programmes which she said that he demonstrated by providing an enabling environment and all necessary logistics for the MNCHW.
Mrs Akeredolu also praised the zeal of the members of the state healthcare team towards curbing childhood and maternal morbidity and mortality.
In his address Commissioner for Health, Dr Wahab Adegbenro explained that MNCHW was adopted by the National Council on Health in 2010 and an approval of a Bi-annual MNCH week was passed. Since then according to him, 17 rounds of the MNCHW have been implemented in all the 36 States of the federation and FCT till date.
He appealed to parents and caregivers to take their children and wards of 0-59 months of age to the public health facilities and designated services points close to them where trained health workers are waiting to attend to them for the MNCHW exercise from 25th to 29th of this month. He revealed that the exercise targets all children under the age of five as well as pregnant women in the State.
