Kwara rolls out integrated campaigns, Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week across 16LGAs
The Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KWSPHCDA) has disclosed that it has concluded plans to roll out integrated campaigns and a second round of bi-annual Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week across the 16 local government areas of the state.
The Executive Secretary, Kwara State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Nusirat Elelu, who stated this on Friday in her office, said the campaign which is scheduled to start from Monday 9th – Saturday 14th December 2024 is expected to provide a package of health interventions for children aged 0 to 59 months, pregnant women and all women of childbearing age across the nooks and crannies of the State.
Dr Elelu also disclosed that these interventions are implemented to further reduce the morbidity and mortality among children and women of childbearing age, and scale up health services provision, particularly the hard-to-reach, underserved and vulnerable populations.
These services include routine immunization, vitamin A supplementation, deworming, growth monitoring, and nutrition screening, among others.
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The week is being integrated with Local Immunization Days from Monday 9th December 2024, to ramp up immunization coverage and rapidly decrease the cohort of zero doses as well as partially immunized children from the time of the COVID-19 pandemic to increase population immunity through vaccinations to protect them from vaccine-preventable diseases.
The Executive Secretary, however, called on all stakeholders, service providers, and community leaders, especially fathers, mothers, and caregivers, to ensure that their children are immunized during these life-saving integrated interventions.
The Director, Primary Health Care Systems at the Agency, Dr. Micheal Oguntoye, also explained that the integrated campaigns will further help in protecting the health of the target population by making several interventions available at the same time, reiterating that the State Government will continue to work with partners such as World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund and World Bank, to ensure adequate health care delivery in Kwara State.
