6 states fail to provide free care for women, children

Abia, Gombe, Nasarawa, Rivers, Taraba and Yobe “did not implement the November 2014 MNCH Week,” which lasted five days, the review noted.The MNCH, which started in 2010, is considered a flagship intervention to ensure children are immunised and mothers treated for anaemia free of charge on the days allotted for the programme nationwide.“Any state that […]

Abia, Gombe, Nasarawa, Rivers, Taraba and Yobe “did not implement the November 2014 MNCH Week,” which lasted five days, the review noted.
The MNCH, which started in 2010, is considered a flagship intervention to ensure children are immunised and mothers treated for anaemia free of charge on the days allotted for the programme nationwide.
“Any state that does not implement this is taking us a little bit backward,” said Dr Ado Muhammad, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, which coordinates the week.
Each round of MNCH which occurs twice a year reaches an average 22 million people, including some 16 million women and children.
The review came as programme officers for MNCH from different states and agencies met in Abuja to plan for the next round scheduled for 15-19 June, which will include HIV counselling and testing for the first-time ever targeting an estimated one million pregnant woman.
The review doesn’t document reasons why the week did not hold, but funding is among challenges being considered for the MNCH week to continue, amidst falling financing from the federal health ministry.
The meeting in Abuja held only with sponsorship from international donor partners, including UNICEF, Helen Keller Initiative and Micronutrient Initiative.
Some areas have been hard to reach, according to Dr Chris Isokpunwu, Director of Family Health at Federal Health Ministry, and more than one in 10 women is totally unaware of the programme.