NAN-HG-9
Project
Bauchi, Oct.24,2017 (NAN) No fewer than 323 health facilities in Bauchi state are expected to be renovated and equipped with facilities under a UNICEF and EU project aimed at improving the health of women and children.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the four –year programme focuses on strengthening primary health care and community resilience for improved Maternal and New-born Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN).
Speaking on Tuesday when members of a technical committee on the implementation of the project visited Bauchi Zonal office of News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), its chairman, Alhaji Mohammed Bello, said the project would help in reducing maternal and child mortality in the state.
According to him, apart from renovating and equipping 325 health facilities, about one million children and 400,000 women are expected to benefit from health services of the project annually.
Bello said that one key component of the project was making benefitting communities realize the significance of the facilities being provided and making the best use of the opportunities.
“The project will strengthen government’s capacity to enhance access to quality primary healthcare services in Bauchi state.
“It will also support the authorities in the training of adequate and quality health personnel, as well as provision of facilities,” he said.
Bello therefore solicited for the support of NAN Bauchi office in sensitizing the people on the need for them to support the project.
In his remarks, Zonal Manager of NAN Bauchi, Mr Abdullahi Salihu, promised that his office would render the necessary assistance for the project to succeed.
He said that issues bordering on the wellbeing of women and children were crucial, adding that the agency had a special desk that handled such issues.
NAN reports that members of the committee included retired Permanents Secretaries, traditional rulers, seasoned journalists as well as representatives of the National Orientation Agency and Non-Governmental Organisations.
It would be recalled that in August, Bauchi state government signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Union, through UNICEF, on the project.
Bauchi, Adamawa and Kebbi are the three states benefitting from the project in the country.
The project is estimated to gulp 54 million Euros, with EU contributing 50 million Euros, while the three benefitting states and UNICEF are expected to contribute one million Euros each.(NAN).
AE/ASH/ASH