By Ademola Orunbon
In its determination at ensuring zero maternal and child mortality rates, the Ogun Government has assured that more health intervention programmes would be carried out to strengthen its qualitative and efficient health care delivery.
Wife of the State Governor, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun made this known at June 12 Cultural Center, Kuto, Abeokuta, during the flag-off ceremony of the second round of the 2022 Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW).
Mrs. Abiodun, represented by wife of the Commissioner for Transportation, Mrs. Olamide Dairo, said the government was committed to improving the health of mothers and children, noting that ”no woman should die in the process of giving birth and neither should any child die from preventable diseases”.
Abiodun, in a statement signed by the Press Officer, Ogun State Primary Health Care Development Board (OGPHCDB), Mrs. Yemisi Fashola, stated that the MNCHW campaign was essential in realisation of the right of children to good health care, saying it also aimed at improving the healthcare of the whole family, especially pregnant women and children under five years.
Earlier in her remarks, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker, who highlighted some of the free health services to be provided including, routine immunisation, deworming, screening for malnutrition, Vitamin A supplementation, as well as free counselling and health education on key household practices.
Coker, noted that the present administration had put in place measures to boost primary health care services through renovation and equipping of health centres, employment of personnel, training and retraining of qualified health workers and provision of quality drugs, enjoining parents, caregivers and guardians to avail their children and wards of ages 0-5 the opportunity of the programme.
Speaking in an interview, the Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola said the weeklong package of low-cost and high impact health care services would be provided at government health facilities, mobile and fixed posts, as well as outreaches such as schools, markets, religious houses, parks and garages.
In their separate contributions, the State Coordinator, World Health Organisation (WHO), Mrs. Folake Ogunlaja and her counterpart in the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Victoria Adebiyi, reiterated their organisations’ commitment to supporting the State in improving the health status of the residents.
Responding on behalf of mothers at the event, Mrs. Kehinde Alao and Mujidat Abdul commended the present administration for prioritising the well-being of children and mothers, promising to mobilise others to benefit from the programme.
