ROTARY International, under its Maternal and Child Health Project, has commenced training for health professionals on malaria and malnutrition in Oyo, Lagos, and Ogun states, with the aim of enhancing their knowledge and skills in reducing maternal and child mortality and morbidity in these states.
Past Rotary district governor, Adeniji Raji, speaking at the training for the second cohort of 28 health professionals from Lagelu and Oyo West local government areas of Oyo State, said the project will cover 96 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in Oyo State and 64 others in Lagos and Ogun states and is to improve the availability of professional medical services and drugs in health facilities in these PHCs.
Raji, represented by past district Rotary governor, Yomi Adewunmi, said it was a follow-up to a previous intervention by the Maternal and Child Health Project to tackle maternal and infant deaths in hospitals by tackling malaria and malnutrition.
He stated that specific objects of the three-year programme include improving access to information and tools for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of malaria and malnutrition in communities; developing prerequisites for a sustainable transfer of activities and stock outs; equipping health facilities with the first stock of medical drugs; and embarking on behavioural communication campaigns.
Past Rotary district governor, Raji, said malaria remains a foremost public health problem that is taking its greatest toll on children under the age of five and pregnant women, especially in rural areas, adding that 60 percent of the project efforts centres are in Oyo State because its malaria and malnutrition prevalence are higher than in Lagos and Ogun states.
Director of Public Health at the Oyo State Ministry of Health, Dr Akintunde Babatunde, appreciated the support of the Rotary Action Group for Reproductive Maternal and Child Health to tackle malaria and malnutrition among pregnant women and children under five years old, saying the state’s target is to ensure zero malaria cases.
Adedotun Amori, Oyo State chairman for the programme, said through little steps like sleeping under insecticidal-treated nets, large impacts can be made in terms of lives saved and a reduction in the number of disabilities that result from malaria and malnutrition in the community.
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