In Yobe, there is life support for women, children, but…

It was a four- day affair in which the state Ministry of Health, in active partnership with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the media, primary health care centres and traditional rulers, went round to fast-track the programme. The exercise also marked the extension of UNICEF’s Maternal and Newborn Child Health (MNCH) intervention from two […]

It was a four- day affair in which the state Ministry of Health, in active partnership with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the media, primary health care centres and traditional rulers, went round to fast-track the programme.

The exercise also marked the extension of UNICEF’s Maternal and Newborn Child Health (MNCH) intervention from two to all the local government areas in the state which before now covered only Machina and Yunusari.

The interventions carried out included intensive administration of medicines against the five killer diseases such as polio, hepatitis, measles, DPT, yellow fever as well as health talk for mothers in respect of their children, appropriate breast feeding options and weighing of nutritional status of children.

Hundreds of children were also dewormed and their growth monitored by health officials while mothers were sensitised on key household practices such as exclusive breastfeeding and hand washing.

Hassan Kime, the head of the primary healthcare unit in Nguru, one of the benefiting LGAs, said 35,571 under five children were targeted for the exercise, stressing that there were 172,855 children who have been registered for various assistance in respect of their peculiar health needs.

According to him, 8,643 pregnant women were also targeted for antenatal intervention while close monitoring was also extended to 38,028 women of child bearing age.

Focal persons and other health assistants were stationed in all the wards of Nguru including Afunori, Bulanguwa, Bulabulin, Dabule, Dumsai, Hausari, Majakura, Ngarbi, Sabon Garin Kanuri and Tsohuwar Nguru.

Ibrahim Tijjani who led the exercise in Tsohuwar Nguru, said they gave folic acid and anti malaria drugs to pregnant women.

“Most importantly, we measured the weight of children using a simple method and adviced mothers on how to appropriately improve the health of their malnourished children.

“We used special tapes to measure the children, after putting it round the  upper arm of the child, if it ends in green, it means the child is well nourished; if it ends in yellow, it means there is a mild nutrition while if it ends in red, it means the child suffers from severe malnutrition,” Ibrahim said.

The ward head of Tsohuwar Nguru, Alhaji Shuwami Galadima, said his people, especially husbands had assisted in the success of the programme.

“Before now, most of them were sceptical on the motive of the exercise but through community mobilization in mosques and markets, we have overcome the phobia,” he said.

A father, Mallam Wakili Ali said his daughter Aisha (5) did not wait for her mother to take her to the immunization spot. “She rushed herself there because she learnt there was free sweets after the administration of the vaccine,” he said.

“The truth is that I spend less on health issues these days because I allow my children to have all the stipulated rounds of immunization.

“And we record fewer cases of child deaths in our locality,” he added.

His wife Jamila, said she went through little stress while carrying pregnancies. “I have eight deliveries and two miscarriages in my 25 years of marriage. Happily, the last three deliveries were the most successful because I had full ante natal services,” she said.

Yobe State Commissioner of Health, Idrissa Bukar Machinama, said the state met its counterpart obligations to health partners and international donors such as UNICEF, PRINN/MNCH, MDG, WSSSRP among others.

The UNICEF actively intervenes in ten northern states, six in the north east which according to relevant statistics has the highest number of child and maternal death in the country.

The states include Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Gombe and Taraba. Others are Jigawa, Kano, Nasarawa and Plateau.

Of all the states, it is believed that Yobe has the highest casualty but state officials say the trend is being reversed.

According to Machinama, initially, poverty and illiteracy were the overriding factors that militate against patronage of hospitals by parents.”

“The introduction of free health services for children below the age of five and pregnant mothers have improved our status,” he said.

At a recent media briefing in Bauchi on the issue of maternal and child health, Edele Thebaud, the Chief of Field Office (CFO) in charge of the north east states said the health condition of over eight million under five children in the 10 states that have UNICEF presence have improved.

Citing the 2008 National Health Demographic Survey (NHDS) which showed a shocking under five mortality rate at 222/1000 births, infant mortality rate at 109/1000 and maternal mortality rate at 800/100,000, Edele said much has been done by the UNICEF to address the plights of women and children.

She said the latest UNICEF programme of cooperation with the federal government of Nigeria which will last between 1999 and 2011 was aimed at reducing the above mentioned mortality rates through interventions in the areas of health and nutrition, basic education, water, sanitation and hygiene, child protection, children and AIDS as well as social policy, advocacy and communication.

According to her, over 85 percent of under-five children were immunized against polio during the four rounds of immunization plus days (IPDs) which was conducted between January and June this year.

“A noticeable success was that within the time under review, only one out of the five wide cases of wild polio virus (WPV) was found in Borno, which is one of the focal states of the UNICEF,” Edele said.

Edele said during the intervention exercise in June, 121,055 under five children‘s birth were registered in 24 LGA’s selected from Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Nasarawa, Taraba and Plateau States.

She said Yobe, Bauchi, Jigawa and Kano States have finalised their Water, Sanitation and Hygine (WASH) policy documents which are just waiting for executive ratification to take effect.

Though the programme appears to be a life saver for women and children who form the chunk of beneficiaries, the Yobe State government appears to be shooting its own foot by withholding its own part of the bargain. Our correspondent reports that in Yobe State for instance, hundreds of children did not get mosquito treated nets because that part of the commitment was not met by the state government.

UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office (CFO) in charge of the north east states Edele Thebaud also observed that the problem of timely release of counterpart fund delays the take off of some programmes which are aimed at saving the lives of women and children who constitute the largest part of the population.

 “We can only succeed if all stakeholders actively participate and redeem their part of the obligation,” Edele said.