Gombe inaugurated two committee on save one million live in the state

Gombe inaugurated two committee on save one million live in the state

BY AUWAL AHMAD Gombe state Ministry of Health in collaboration with Save the Children International has inaugurated two committee on the Saving One Million lives Programme for Results (SOML-P for R) in the state with aim of improving the lives of mothers and children. The state Commissioner of Health Dr. Kennedy Ishaya while speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Gombe on Tuesday, said that the two committee are state steering committee on operationalization of National Health Act and Saving one million lives programme for result. According to the Commissioner “The Programme would bring change in the way health business done by focusing on result and governance”. He said that the programme being funded from a N140 billion ($500 million) World Bank credit, was negotiated by the Federal Government from which $1.5million had been disbursed to states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to drive the delivery of the programme and enable states address legacy issues Our Correspondent reported that programme expected to deliver high impact, evidence-based and cost effective health interventions based on six ‘pillars’, namely: Maternal, newborn and child health, childhood essential medicines and increase treatment of important childhood diseases, improve child nutrition, immunisation malaria control and the elimination of mother to child transmission (EMTCT) of HIV. And initiative was not new, but that it would give a new lease of life to the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP) and State Strategic Health Development Plans (SHDPs) through innovative financing mechanism. The field Manager Save the Children Ms. Altine Lewi urged stakeholders to imbibe the culture of performance-based programming so that results could be achieved within a short time.

World Malaria Day 2017: MamaYe journalists for MNH Accountability draw attention to Malaria in Pregnancy

World Malaria Day 2017: MamaYe journalists for MNH Accountability draw attention to Malaria in Pregnancy To commemorate the 2017 World Malaria Day, the sub-committees responsible for Knowledge Management and Communication (KMC) in the State Accountability Mechanism for Maternal and Newborn Health in Gombe (Gombe State Accountability Mechanism for Maternal and Newborn Health – GoSAM) and Bauchi (Bauchi State Accountability Mechanism for Maternal and Newborn Health – BASAM) states, are to draw attention to the problem of malaria in pregnancy in the two states and the entire Nigerian nation. The activities planned around the 2017 World Malaria Day include a media roundtable and radio and television programmes aimed at public enlightenment and public policy implementation to address the problem of malaria in pregnancy which, according to the World Health Organisation, has consequences for not just the pregnant woman, but the unborn baby as well (see also this Lancet article). The Bauchi group, BaSAM KMC, took the decision at its 2017 second quarterly review meeting held 7 April, where activities in the first quarter were reviewed and plans for the second quarter were discussed. The Gombe group followed with their own plan, and both will hold the media roundtable simultaneously on 26 April. Although malaria is still a global health problem with 212 million new cases in 2015, out of which there were 429,000 deaths, including one child dying from malaria every 2 minutes, the mood around the 2017 World Malaria Day is celebratory. This is because of prevention and treatment successes recorded between 2010 and 2015. During the period, there was a 21 per cent decrease in the global malaria incidence, and a 29 per cent decline in mortality, WHO said in a statement. “In sub-Saharan Africa, 663 million cases of malaria were prevented between 2010 and 2015 through the scale-up of core malaria control tools,” it added, explaining that insecticide-treated nets have had the greatest impact, “accounting for an estimated 69 per cent of all cases prevented through control tools.” In areas with high malaria transmission, young children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to malaria infection and death. In 2015, 70 per cent (more than two-thirds) of all malaria deaths occurred among under-5 children. To protect pregnant women from malaria, WHO recommends Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Pregnancy (IPTp), which prevents maternal and infant mortality, anaemia, and other adverse effects of malaria during pregnancy. Administration of IPTp on pregnant women is recommended at routine antenatal care visits in areas of stable malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa. However, IPTp coverage remains low. In 2015, it was just 31 per cent. In other words, an estimated 69 per cent of pregnant women still do not access the WHO-recommended three or more doses of IPTp. On 2017 World Malaria Day, WHO will call on all malaria-affected countries and their development partners to close the gap in coverage of IPTp.

World Malaria Day

Yesterday was World Malaria Day (WMD). The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that, despite the substantial gains in malaria responses, the disease has remained a major public health threat to people. The WHO at an event in Nairobi Kenya, said the global tally of malaria reached 429,000 deaths and 212 million new cases in 2015, with one child dying from malaria every two minutes. WHO in a report released yesterday titled “Malaria prevention works: Let’s close the gap” showed critical gaps in prevention coverage, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the WHO, more than 663 million cases have been averted in sub-Saharan Africa since 2001. The Director-General of WHO, Dr. Margaret Chan, called for accelerated scale-up of efforts to prevent malaria and save lives. She said: “whom recommended tools have made a measurable difference in the global malaria fight. But we need a much bigger push for prevention, especially in Africa, which bears the greatest burden of malaria.” In view of this, Gombe state Malaria Control Office distributed anti-malaria drugs free of charge to the students of the State University The State Malaria Control Manager, Malam Muhammad Babagana, disclosed this while speaking to Journalists in Gombe. According to him, the students were screened and those found with malaria parasites were given anti-malaria drugs. Babagana said that, the office had also distributed 150 Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs) to the students. He said that, the state government was creating awareness on effects of malaria and how students could protect themselves. Babagana said the state government had also inspected the sanitary condition of students’ hostels and had applied some chemicals. He said the state government is giving the office some drugs to treat those that were infected. According to him, anti-malaria drugs are given to pregnant women at ante-natal clinics to prevent malaria. “But the support is not like the years back when we had the full support of the World Bank for Malaria Control Booster Project. “We are appealing to government to do more because we do not have many activities in the office now, and we want to sustain what the World Bank left.