Kano state ministry of health in collaboration with other development partners including the UNICEF has on Monday commenced the December round of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) week across the 44 local government areas of the state with a view to administer free medical services to pregnant women and children under five years of age.
The programme was aimed at mitigating cases of maternal and child mortality in the state.
State’s commissioner for health, Dr. Kabiru Ibrahim Getso disclosed in a press briefing preceding the flag-off of the week-long health intervention that a whooping sum of N81m has been earmarked for the procurement of drugs, and other logistical issues for the programme.
He said the money was raised through counterpart funding among partner organizations and the state ministries for health and local government respectively.
Getso stated that the programme seeks to reach out to 2.6 million children below the age of five as well as 650, 000 pregnant women across the 44 local government areas stressing that 39 secondary hospitals and over 1200 primary healthcare centres have been accredited for the exercise to ensure mass coverage.
While commending the state governor Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje over his people oriented programmes, Getso urged parents and guardians to avail their children for the services.
Among the services to be rendered free of charge during the week-long event are: Vitamin A supplementation for children between 6months to 6years, de-worming of children from 1 to 5years, immunization of children below the age of 5, ante-natal care services including malaria prophylaxis, HIV/AIDs counseling and testing among others.
