By Mary Jalingo
The Wife of the Niger State Governor, Dr Amina Abubakar Sani Bello, has reiterated the state government commitment to continue to support initiatives targeted towards improving the lives of women and children in the state.
Dr Amina stated this during the flag off ceremony of the June/July 2017 Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW), held last Monday at the Primary Health Care Centre in Paikoro local government area of the state.
She said there was no doubt that the health of women and children is essential for the development of any community, adding that there was need for the current morbidity and mortality rate in the state and the country at large to be grossly reduced.
She noted that it was a fact that the health of family and the community are tied to the health of women, saying the illness or death of a woman has serious consequences on the health of her children, family and the society at large.
She stated that globally statistics have shown that about 830 women die each day due to pregnancy related complications and childbirth with developing countries accounting for a greater percentage added that this trend must be reversed.
The wife of the governor said the health of women in the state has attained higher international visibility and renewed political commitment and therefore called for concerted efforts especially at the LGAs aimed at scaling up general healthcare services for women and children in particular.
Speaking earlier, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mustapha M. Jibril, said the administration of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello was leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that citizens have access to quality and affordable healthcare services. Dr Jibril said to meet the increasing health needs of the people, over 400 health workers in the different specialties were recruited, and their salaries have being increased and paid in full.
He said the MNCHW was a very important week were interventions ranging from Routine Immunization, Vitamin A supplementation, iron and folic acid for pregnant women and birth registration among other intervention would be given for free. He, therefore urged parents and healthcare care givers to come out en mass to access services.
