Abia State Government, Friday said that almost 200,000 pregnant women and children across Abia communities are to benefit from integrated health services under another round of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health week.

The wife of the state governor, Nkechi Ikpeazu stated this in Umuahia while flagging off the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week, adding that it “is a regular feature in our efforts to drive down the number of mortalities and illnesses amongst mothers and children.

She said the occasion was designed to deliver a weeklong integrated package of highly cost-effective, yet result-oriented, preventive and curative services” and “will feature integrated health services for communities”.

“We are pursuing efforts to reduce high rates of preventable deaths by scaling up some basic steps such as family planning, preventive treatment of malaria in pregnant women and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

“Others include immunization, Vitamin A supplementation, de-worming of children, use of oral rehydration salt with zinc for diarrhea and use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria”.

She encouraged mothers to take advantage of this health packages to ensure that they protect themselves and their babies and to undertakes complete ante-natal and post-natal care during pregnancy and after delivery.

Earlier in their speeches, the Chairman, Umuahia South LGA, Hon. Humphrey Chukwudi Benson, representative of WHO and other partner agencies, Peter Ezeukwu, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Joe Osuji and the Executive Secretary, Abia State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Chinagozi Adindu urged pregnant mothers to avail themselves of the opportunity to be immunized.

WHO and donor partners assured the state government of their readiness to assist, disclosing that last year alone, 8134 children in Abia were “unprotected,” health wise.

Fielding questions from newsmen, the Umuahia South LGA first Lady, Esther Uchechi Humphrey assured that the council would take the sensitization to communities.

DailyPost