Ben Ezechime, Enugu
The Enugu State Government says it is targeting about one million children in the first round of 2024 Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week for various health intervention Programme.
The week is organised to deliver free integrated package of high cost effective interventions to children and child bearing mothers from June 26 to 30 June.
Dr Ngozi Onuorah, UNICEF Nutritional Specialist, Enugu Field Officer, disclosed this during a press briefing on Tuesday on a one day public awareness creation for the first round of the 2024 Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week.
Onuorah said that 996, 160 children would be targeted particularly for Vitamin A supplement and 840,000 children would be targeted for deworming.
According to her, Vitamin A has the potential to prevent all causes of child mortality by 26 per cent.
“We will use the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week to increase the number of children that receive Vitamin A and to ensure that no child is left untouched.
“Also, to increase the number of children that receive routine immunizations,” she said.
She said that the one week long programme would be aimed at increasing the level of services that were provided to increase indices of health and nutrition intervention in the state.
“Over 63 per cent of the children in Enugu State have been denied of appropriate eating practices and exclusive breastfeeding, while these children are from 6 to 59 months.
“Only 37 per cent of them received minimum acceptable diets,” she said.
Earlier, the Enugu State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ikechukwu Obi, called on everyone to take part in the optimize intervention that would be given to them in their various healthcare facilities in their communities.
Obi said that there was no volatile area in the state, adding that there are healthcare workers, who are working in those Healthcare facilities.
“The healthcare workers in all the health facilities in the 17 Local Government Areas in the state have been trained to come and do this optimize services.
“The commodities that will be used for the optimize healthcare week have been collected and taken to the health facilities in the 17 LGAs,” he said.
The commissioner urged children and women to go to their various healthcare facilities in their communities and partake in the intervention that the government had joined its partners to make available within the healthcare facilities in their communities.
Speaking, the Executive Secretary, Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Ifeyinwa Ani-Osheku, said that the nutrition status of Enugu State has not been encouraging as the study of 2018 by the nation’s Nutritional body showed.
She said that any investment in nutrition was a right step in the right direction, stressing that nutrition provided key elements that help the child to fight all killer infections and diseases.
“We are going to use this one week to carry out an outreach in all the nooks and crannies of the state, and will provide vitamin A to the children during the week. They will also provide deworming drugs to the children,” she said.
She said that Anemia is also a big health problem as it is a nutritional deficiency in women.
“The programme is going to be conducted in all the 17 LGAs of the state.
“It will be free of charge. Mothers and caregivers should endeavour to take their children to health facilities in their communities,” she added.
