By: Attahiru Ahmed – Gusau
The Zamfara State Primary Health Care Board has engaged religious and traditional leaders on sensitization of routine immunizations response and an outbreak of diseases in the state.
Speaking during a town hall meeting held at the Command Guest Inn Gusau, state capital, the Executive Secretary of Zamfara State Primary Health Care Board, Dr Tukur Isma’il, said the idea was to scale up the activities of reporting outbreak of diseases among communities in the State.
Dr Isma’il said State and Local Government areas Disease Surveillance Notification Officers (DSNOs) are responsible for reporting suspected cases of diseases.
“There is need to expand the scope of the job to involve some critical stakeholders such as religious and traditional leaders”.
He stressed the need for clerics to prepare Jumu’at sermons that would encourage husbands to support their spouses to attend to health centres in the state.
He lamented the drop in some health indices of the State, said it was caused by husbands’ lukewarm attitudes towards their family health care needs.
“The attendance on Antenatal Care, Routine Immunizations and facility delivery was very low among people of the State, hence the need for a collaborative approach to change the narrative to better”.
In their separate remarks, the Chief Imam of Kaura Namoda Jumu’at Mosque Sheikh Nasiru Liman Kaura and Imam Nasiru Bala Bungudu pledged to support the idea, pointing out that provision of basic health care needs to family is a responsibility upon husbands.
Also, the State Secretary Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) Mr Amadu Ibrahim Gidan Zalla and the Chairperson Women Christian Association of Nigeria assured to disseminate the messages to their followers during church services and other Christian congregations.
Both said the clause for health care provision must be spelt out by scholars in the event of establishing marriages.
Earlier on, Programme officer Zamfara State Emergency Routine Immunization Coordination Center, Mustapha Alinkilo and State Epidemiologist Dr Yusuf Abubakar Haske made presentations on an overview of Routine Immunizations and Status of diseases outbreak in the State.
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