Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina state has been commended for strengthening his political commitment towards child health through immunization.
The commendation was made at a programme organised by the office of the Senior Special Assistant to His Excellency Aminu Bello Masari on Development Partners and Donor Agencies, Hon. Fatima Y. Usman Katsina in partnership with the UNICEF Katsina Field Office.
The Deputy Governor of the state, QS Mannir Yakubu, who was represented by the Commissioner of Education, Prof. Badamasi Lawal Charanchi, declared the event open stating that Governor Aminu Masari recently procured vaccines on public health worth N35 million against outbreak of Cerebral Meningitis in the state.
According to QS Yakubu, “Katsina State Government is absolutely committed to the delivery of healthcare services for mothers and children in Katsina State. I therefore appeal to the organizers of the stakeholder forum to come up with a comprehensive advocacy framework that will engender sustainable collaborations for the effective delivery of healthcare service in the state.”
Special Guest of Honour at the event who is also the Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Shehu Dalhatu Tafoki observed that the advocacy was timely, adding that Katsina State House of Assembly had passed a resolution that would back the creation of two more child-mother hospitals in Funtua and Daura zones, in addition to that of Katsina Central zone of the state.
“As many measures as possible should be put in place to take mother and child healthcare in Katsina State to a greater height. The State Assembly members are aware of the importance of the Child Rights Act as part of the legislative and policy directions to raise the status of all children and give them hope to maximize the society’s potentials and become productive and responsible citizens. The document is undergoing the legal processes that would make it implementable considering the traditional, religious, economic and cultural realities in the state. The Office of Development Partners and Donor Agencies should embark on more and vigorous mass awareness campaigns through community meetings and dialogue for increased community participation and adoption of health interventions,” Hon. Tafoki said.
The Communication for Development Specialist at the UNICEF Katsina State Field Office, Zohra Nisar Hunzai in her paper explained that the Field Office was happy that stakeholder’s forum was well attended by the expected people from different sectors.
She hoped that the Forum would develop a working document from which the state could develop a framework with UNICEF to mobilize relevant resources to upscale immunization in Katsina State.
Papers presented include those on health indicators in Katsina State especially on mother-child healthcare; environmental and sanitation practices, and immunization with emphasis on polio.
The thrusts of the papers were indicators of what have been done so far by the Nigerian governments and to promote awareness why the expediency for necessary collaboration between and among agencies at all levels is vital.
In her address, the Senior Special Adviser, Development Partners and Donor Agencies, Honorable Fatima Y. Usman Katsina encouraged participants, Governmental, Non-Governmental, Civil society and Traditional Rulers, especially the Female Youth and Civil Society groups represented at the programme to feel free to express their feelings.
“Kindly seize the momentum of the platform to express your views and get involved meaningfully to the dialogue at the grassroots level, in your communities and especially at the Local Council, Local Government and State Assembly levels.
“Note that it takes a village to raise a child, that a child is never nurtured and brought up by the parents alone in an African setting. I urge you to endeavour, revive, promote and sustain the traditional collective community learning and upbringing system. This is part of this administration’s agenda to Restore and Exceed Katsina’s Glory in Health and Education,” she stated.
Fatima emphasized the need for community intervention and collaboration for the successful and sustainable child-mother development in line with Governor Aminu Bello Masari’s administrative vision of inclusive governance and total development of the people and resources of Katsina State.
In her Goodwill Message, the Chief Field Offcer, Katsina State UNICEF Field Office, Padmavethi Yelda thanked the participants for putting in their contributions in order to help develop a comprehensive advocacy framework for immunization in Katsina State. However, Yelda was concerned about the statistics that only 25% of children in Katsina have access to immunization. She stated that Nigeria as country is placed under international watch due to the negative data on health intervention. She lamented the increase in the number of children and mothers’ death in Nigeria. According to her, “The international community especially UNICEF is ever ready and has always supported Nigeria with technical capacity, global network and a lot of investments on health interventions, but yet, there are no improved positive results. This situation is worrisome and not encouraging”.
The UNICEF Chief Field Officer cautioned that Nigeria must do something and urgently to find out why these interventions are not producing the expected results noting that some thirty years ago, Nigeria had fantastic records of immunization. She further noted that recently, those positive data have now become burdens to the entire statistics narratives of health interventions in Africa.
“When discussing or analysing data on immunization in Africa, Nigeria’s data are becoming scary and everybody is wonders what is happening to the giant of Africa when other smaller countries are recording no polio,” she said.
Yelda also called the attention of the Nigerian government to the danger of not investing in children’s healthcare which she pointed out to be the bedrock of the future of the country. She explained that the Nigerian youth population is increasing and there is an urgent need to start planning to accommodate them into the lager development plans to avoid social crises.
She appealed to governments to get the health statistics right, because from experience, especially in Katsina State, the children have prioritized their needs to include quality food, quality water, and quality education which are mostly not at per with many parents’ agenda which are money and material wealth.
She hoped that governments would move from policy to practical actions in order to make sure that under each person’s watch, each household no one will die. Education, she emphasized is the enabling tool to get it right for our children.
In her closing remarks, the Senior Special Adviser, Office of Development Partners and Donors, Honorable Fatima Katsina thanked the participants and the state government officials for keeping up with time and for their contributions to the discussions. She prayed that the final document that will be produced from the dialogue will effectively direct and guide the implementations of healthcare interventions, especially immunization and polio for a better Katisna.
