Nasarawa Govt gets kudos for N125m anaemia fight
By Faith AM
Stakeholders in Nasarawa State have commended the state government for releasing N125 million as counterpart funding for the supplies of Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS), a leading drug in tackling anaemia.
Anaemia is a condition where the body does not have enough red blood cells or haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to different parts of the body, and it causes tiredness, weakness, and shortness of breath and also death.
The Stakeholders comprised the Civil Society Stealing Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), pregnant women, staff of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC), and representatives of the Ministry of Health, Nasarawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NAPHDA).
They gave the commendation on Wednesday during a visit to PHC Tudun Kauri, Lafia by the team from CS-SUNN to assess the impacts of the intervention to tackle anaemia by the government, civil society organisations and development partners.
The Nasarawa State Coordinator of CS-SUNN, Jonah Aboki, said that funding was part of the government’s commitment to improving healthcare services and reducing the prevalence of anaemia among women of reproductive age and children.
The CS-SUNN State Coordinator expressed satisfaction with the government’s efforts and said anaemia is one of the major public health concerns affecting women of reproductive age and children.
He noted that anaemia is a major cause of maternal and child mortality, and the intervention by the government would go a long way in addressing the menace, given the high cost of the drugs.
Aboki, however, appealed that the government should release the second batch of the N125 million counterpart funding to enable the PHCs in all the 147 electoral wards in the 13 Local Government Areas to get sufficient MMS pregnant women.
“If every pregnant woman going to any of the PHCs in the state for antenatal is given the complete dosage of MMS to take for six months, it will go a long way to tackle maternal mortality,” Aboki added.
On his part, Deputy Director, Nutrition and Diarrhoea, Nasarawa State Ministry of Health, Usman Obadiah, assured that the government was committed to tackling anaemia and other health challenges in the state.
He explained that the government had already released half of the counterpart funding, and efforts are underway to release the balance of N125 million for the procurement of MMS.
He, however, explained that although there is a shortage of MMS at the moment, the government has sufficient supplies of folic acid supplements and others, which are also critical in preventing anaemia.
Also, Deputy Director of Nutrition, NAPHDA, Salamatu Isa-Chiroma, acknowledged the shortage of MMS in the state at the moment but said very soon the drugs would be supplied to the state with the commitment by the state government.
She also promised that the agency would issue a circular to all PHCs in the state to give the complete dosage of MMS to pregnant women in line with the recommendation for effectiveness, with a view to tackling mortality associated with anaemia.
“Even if there is a shortage of MMS, our staff should not share the drugs with pregnant women, but should give the complete dosage to those who can get and use other substitutes before they get more supply,” she added.
Also, nurse in charge of the clinic, Abdulmumuni Aliyu, acknowledged the shortage of MMS in the facility and explained that they were given other substitute supplements to ensure the safety of pregnant mothers and their children.
He further said that all pregnant women attending antenatal care in the facility are taking MMS and other supplements administered to them because of a comprehensive and constant awareness campaign by their staff.
Speaking on behalf of the pregnant women in the clinic, Blessing Joseph and Rakiya Mohammed appreciated the staff of the facility for their professionalism in handling and attending to them during antenatal and delivery.
The duo, however, said that the facility is counting on MMS to give them to take instead of giving them the whole dosage due to the shortage of the drugs.
