Grant access to immunization staff, FCTA urges gated estate residents

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), via its Primary Health Care Board, has called on residents living in gated estates, most especially in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), to open their gates to the Administration’s staff on immunization duty.

Mrs. Iyabo Ladipo, head of Advocacy, Communication for Social Mobilization for the upcoming Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW) in the FCT, disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja over the weekend.

Ladipo who said the MNCHW is primarily aimed at reducing newborn, child mortality and to improve maternal health in the FCT,  will see residents collect in all FCTA owned health facilities in the six area councils, services for free like, malaria treatment, supplementary foods, birth registration, HIV counseling, nutritional assessment as well as Vitamin A supplementation, others.

She said: “That’s the reason we have come for this meeting, Social Mobilization Committee, it is very important because you have to file the right information to the grassroots, the community people, because to us they are the stakeholders, if they are not well informed we will not have the right results, they are our targeted people.

“We are in collaboration with other partners, apart from the normal routine immunization, that is the giving of vaccines, there is going to be vitamin A supplement, there is going to be testing for malaria, we will give the necessary treatment.

“We will cook meals to show them how to make nutritious meals from meals within their community, how it is beneficial to their health, and how it works for them. This time around, we are all-encompassing. We will not only focus on the children but their mothers, teenage and old mothers. They are part of this programme, not 0 to 59-month-olds again. We are targeting the schools before they go on holiday, so that’s the importance. It is going to be for free.

“It is going to take place in all the six area councils, we have field posts and outreaches, all the gated estates, the schools as well. We are pleading with them to accept our staff for their own good to open their gates. The problem we are having is gated estates most especially in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), we have been having meetings with them but still when our staff go there they don’t open their gates, we are pleading with them to accept the services, it is for free and for their own betterment.

On her part, Mrs. Zainab Shitu, FCT Nutrition Program Officer of Helen Keller International, a major partner with FCTA on MNCHW, said the organization has always supported most interventions targeted towards nutrition especially for children and neglected tropical diseases.

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Shitu said: “For MNCHW programme, I think one of the most major importance of this programme is because the programme is targeted towards children and women, and it is a platform well targeted and cost-effective services are provided at the grassroot level, that’s the primary health care level, most partners especially Hellen keller are trying to support this to ensure that this life-saving intervention get to the grassroots and example of such is the routine immunization, vitamin A supplementation which Hellen keller is targeting as well other support that we get from the government as well that is the SP that is provided for malaria treatment and so few other interventions which is already being mentioned.

“Hellen keller is an organization that has always supported most interventions that are targeted towards nutrition especially for children, it’s an organization that has always supported neglected tropical diseases as well as nutrition, vitamin A supplementation, as we have it, is under one of the nutrition programmes that Hellen keller is supporting, we support this because of gaps that has been identified for vitamin A deficiency in Nigeria, we supporting currently about six States in Nigeria and we looking towards supporting more states, if the possibility present itself.

“We are 95 percent prepared, reason being that we had a little bit of hitch along the way, we had to stop some activities, a few days ago we discussed that activities could continue and fortunately for us we had the states that are ready and willing to work, trainings are currently going on, on local government and ward levels for health workers.”