The Minister of Health,
Dr. Eyitayo Lambo
said that providing best health for children was a worthy investment.
The minister made this statement at a one-day seminar signalling the end of project of Basics II/Nigeria on Catchments Area Planning and Action (CAPA) as a community-based approach to child survival in Abuja within the week.
The minister who was represented at the occasion by Dr. Adeleke Adeyemi, obser-ved that Nigeria was next to India in high mortality rate, stressing the need to have a holistic approach to reduce the high mortality rate.
Basics II should not be limited to the community alone, noted the minister, but it should go from house to house in order to reach women.
He said: “Teach the woman to wash her hands, to recognise when the child is ill so that when the child is ill she can begin to take measures.”
Dr. Lambo thanked the US government for Basics II, however adding that the problem was not over yet, that the child survival revolution had just begun, and therefore they should not hand their gloves yet.
Also speaking at the occasion on “USAID’s contribution to child survival in Nigeria,” Dawn Liberi, USAID’s mission director disclosed that USAID had been providing assistance to Nigeria for many years in the areas of health, democracy and governance, economic growth and agriculture.
Dawn Liberi also obser-ved that health was funda-mental to development pro-gramming and that child survival is the bedrock of health progra-mming.
She said, “If children do not strive and grow strong and healthy, there are no produc-tive adults to carry on the work of a nation. Child survival is, therefore, an undisputed staple.”
The contribution of USAID to the health and welfare of the Nigeria-child survival for the past eight years had been primarily through the basics project – first Basics I from 1996 to 1999 and, since 1999, through Basic II, explained the USAID mission director.
She also maintained that through both of the Basics’ tenures, USAID had promo-ted, nurtured and instituted a grassroots, community-based approach.
It was imperative to point out, she noted, that they were convinced that programmes work in any given community only if the community wanted them, needed them, had a stake in them and fully owned them. Adding that Basics II provided the technical assis-tance, capacity building, encouragement and various other methods of support determined by individual communities as required.
Dawn Liberi further explained that some of the concrete results of the basics II programme were evident in the survey data collected in the three states during the past five years, (i.e Kano, Lagos and Abia states).
According to her, in all the three states, the number of health facilities maintaining a standard immunization regis-ter exceeded the target (40%) in each of the survey years; the percent of children still being breastfed at 20-30 months of age was 69% on average in the three states, with the range being from 60% to 84% the number of children being exclusively breastfed during the first six months of life also exceeded the set target of 21% rising to 36% as an average in the three states. And the percentage of caregivers who are knowled-geable about the function and importance of insecticide-treated bednets rose to 51% overall during basic tenure.
In a speech entitled “uniting to save the Nigerian child - the role of interna-tional agencies,” the US ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. John Campbell noted that the survival of children was the survival of the country, culture, race and the planet.
He said: “That is a big responsibility and one that rests with all of us, not any single agency, government, state or community. It rests with us all, children are the collective responsibility of us all.”
The ambassador stated that several years back there was a so called “child survival revolution” in the interna-tional donor community, and that a great deal of attention and significant resources were put into the child survival efforts, with great results.
That was around the time that routine immunisation coverage shot up, oral rehy-dration therapy began to save countless lives, exclusive and extended breastfeeding was promoted, the ambassador added.
However, with the success of the programme, Mr. John Campbell pointed out, the international community declared victory and moved to other things. Adding that what happened was the culmination of a number of years of relative neglect that produced the numbers in the latest (2003) Nigerian demo-graphic and health survey among others.
Not only the donor agencies have a role to play, emphasised the US Amba-ssador to Nigeria, but also NGOs, communities, the government of Nigeria at all levels and anyone who was interested in the health and well-being of the Nigerian child.
“Right here and right now in Nigeria we can launch a new child survival revolu-tion.” He said, adding that Nigeria knew what it needed to ensure, not only the survival but the thriving and prospering of our children.
Participants from Kano, Lagos and Abia states atten-ded the seminar led by the states’ commissioners for health.
A drama presentation and cultural dances were also displayed.
|
|
