The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has supported the Kaduna state Primary Healthcare Board in providing critical health services to Kwarau town of Igabi Local Government Area (LGA).
On the sidelines of the outreach on Friday in Kaduna, the Deputy Coordinator, UNICEF New York, Anne Carlson, said they provided essential services to the community, including malnutrition screening, health services, immunisation, and birth registration.
Carlson explained that the services are being provided in collaboration with the government and other partners, and are targeted at families with young children.
She said that it was vital that the services continued, thanking the dedicated workers for ensuring families have access to them.
Also, UNICEF Chief of Field Office in Kaduna, Dr. Gerida Birukila, said the people in the community traveled over 10 kilometers to access health care.
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She said the community is special because it is far from the nearest health facilities, and the Kaduna government supports mobile outreaches for such areas.
Birukila noted that the outreach provided treatment for malnutrition, immunization, and other ailments.
“Many children are missing out on life-saving interventions due to a lack of immunisation, taking services to faraway communities is increasing uptake,” she stressed.
She thanked the Kaduna government and partners for their support.
Birukila expressed the desire to do more and take services closer to the people, reducing travel time and increasing access to healthcare.
She believed such an approach would improve health outcomes in the community.
Aisha Idris, the Local Immunisation Officer, Igabi LGA, said the outreach was targeted at zero-dose children (0-11 months) for immunisation.
She added that medications and Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) were also given to mothers who have malnourished children.
Idris also said iron folates were given to pregnant mothers.
She lamented that the village is underserved, hard-to-reach, and in need of health services, adding that the intervention was timely.
The Village Head of Kwarau in Igabi LGA, Kwarau Gari Ward, Alhaji Umaru Rufa’i, thanked UNICEF and the Kaduna state government for the kind gesture.
He said that his village is open to any form of development, as long as it is for the benefit of his people.
Rufa’i lamented that many diseases affect rural communities, and that medical interventions are always welcomed.
He expressed gratitude to UNICEF for giving them the ability to convince and mobilise their people for the exercise.