Stories by Stanley Onyekwere
As part of measures to ensure increase in health, wellbeing and survival of women and children in Abuja, the nation’s capital, the FCT Primary Healthcare Board of the FCT Administration’s Health Services and Environment Secretariat (HSES) has concluded plans for its integrated immunisation and medical outreach exercise themed: A Package of Care for Healthy Family.
This was disclosed yesterday at the media briefing for the 2024 Outbreak Response (OBR) Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW) in the FCT, which is a bi-annual medical outreach programme, is scheduled for 5th to 9th December, 2024.
The MNCHW is a week set aside to deliver a package of key maternal, newborn and child survival interventions that have been proven to reduce maternal, neonatal and child mortality.
It was gathered during this December round of the exercise, there will be integration of Oral Polio Vaccine, one of the key interventions as a way halting further transmission of Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio Virus (CVDp V) in FCT, in particular and Nigeria in general.
Mandate Secretary, HSES, Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, explained that that emphasis has shifted from stand-alone vertical campaigns to a more integrated approach like the MNCH week, which exposes caregivers, and children to key interventions that improves health status and enables them thrive through both the existing health system and outreach strategy.
Fasawe, in a keynote address delivered by Director, Department of Medical and Diagnostics, HSES, Dr. Abubakar Ahmadu on her behalf, said this round of the OBR/MNCH Week will provide free health services like: oral polio vaccination for children 0 – 59 months; Vitamin A supplementation for children 6-59 months; and Dldeworming of Children 12-59 months.
She added that others include routine Immunization against vaccine preventable diseases for children 0-11 months, growth monitoring and promotion, food demonstration and Nutrition screening of children 6-59 months, birth registration, family planning services, hand washing demonstration, focused ante natal care and administration of IPTp to prevent malaria in pregnant women as well as HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT) which now is fully integrated into MNCHW.
According to her, there will be health promotion on all Key House-Hold Practices (KHHPs) will all be prominent interventions at service points.
“To ensure that all nooks and cranny of FCT residents were reached during this round, FCT has adopted strategies to include: 298 fixed posts teams to be in the health facilities, 50 gated estates teams to work in big estates, 1,166 house to house teams to visit different homes and, 314 special teams to visit schools, churches, mosques and special places, that no eligible woman, newborn or child should miss any of these packages of care.
“Although considerable achievements have been made through MNCHW to reduce the current indices, we still need to do more to ensure that all eligible children are covered with interventions that will improve their nutritional status.
“I want to use this opportunity to reiterate the urgency and need for all of us to promote this programme that will be taking off from 5th gth December 2024 across all the 6 Area Councils of FCT”, Fasawe stated.
On her part, Acting Executive Secretary FCT Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Rukayat Wamako, noted that the packages of care would be offered free of charge to all eligible mothers and children in the Territory.
She added that all stakeholders especially healthcare workers in collaboration with development partners are fully ready for the exercise.
