The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs on Thursday distributed food items and diapers to encourage women in the FCT to attend antenatal and immunisation programmes at the Primary Health Care (PHC) centres.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the exercise, which started at Durumi and Bwari, would be extended to all the six area councils in the FCT.
The Permanent Secretary, Mrs Ifeoma Anagbogu, who supervised the distribution, said that the measure would encourage women to seek antenatal care services.
“We want them to attend routine immunisation programmes to boost the health and development of their children,” he said.
Anagbogu commended the level of compliance to health programmes in the community, urging the women to sustain the tempo so as to protect their children from child killer diseases.
“Immunisation is one of the ways you can protect yourself, your children and future generation from infectious diseases.
“I urge you all to immunise your babies based on the National Immunisation Programme of the Federal Government so as to guarantee our children’s health and future,” he said.
She encouraged mothers to adopt exclusive breast feeding and adhere to proper sanitation and hygiene to safeguard them from contracting COVID-19.
On the increasing rate of rape cases in the country, Anagbogu advised mothers to monitor the movement of their female children to protect them from the incidence of rape and sexual molestation.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), appreciated the gesture which they said had cushioned the burden of catering for the welfare of their children.
NAN recalls that Portal and Gamble, an NGO, donated 250,000 diapers to the ministry of women affairs for distribution to Primary Health Care centres in the six Area Councils of the FCT. (NAN)