The Kwara State has the lowest child mortality rate in the country, the Executive Secretary, State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Prof. Nusirat Elelu has disclosed.
At the First Quarterly Meeting of the Kwara State Task Force on Immunization and Primary Health Care, explained that one of the indicators that was tracked was the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey on child mortality data where the state recorded two out of 1000 live births.
She asserted that the data showed that this is the least when compared to other data from across the county as a whole.
“The government has improved the healthcare, and this has ensured confidence and increased more children given birth to across healthcare facilities.
“There is less likelihood of having children dying from preventable causes,” she said.
Elelu also pointed out that Kwara has the best skilled birth-attendants in the North Central of Nigeria.
According to her, the government was able to bring in the birth attendants into the PHCs in the state, and that this also translated to saving lives of mothers and their infants.
“We are not stopping this and will ensure all deliveries of infants are done in healthcare facilities.
“That is why we are having the free delivery kits in all PHCs in the state,” she said.
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The executive secretary recalled that the state government has distributed free delivery kits to PHCs across the 16 LGAs and launched a toll-free line to ensure nobody requests for money.
She observed that the state is also recording success in area of immunization of zero to five year old, adding that the exercise is continuous to ensure those children who missed are mopped-up.
Elelu however, lamented on the attitude of some fathers and husbands who refuse to support the vaccination exercises in the state.
She observed that often, mothers always complain that their husbands have not allowed them to immunize their children.
Mr Kayode Alabi, the Kwara State Deputy Governor expressed disappointed over the actions of some fathers in the state.
He stated that the government will work with the various Local Governments to ensure they call fathers and husbands to give full support to the lifesaving immunization campaigns in the state.
NAN
