The Governor of Niger State Farmer Mohammed Bago, has entered a partnership with the United Nations Child Education Fund and the Global Alliance Initiative to sustain the vaccination of children in the state against preventable diseases.
Bago signed the Memoradum of Understanding to among others, enable the state absorb 400 adhoc staff of both organisations to continue their job of administering vaccination on the children of the state when they are finally disengaged by their organisations.
As part of the partnership, the two international organisations supported the state’s primary healthcare initiative with seed money of about $6 million matched with an additional $1 million by the state government.
Governor Bago who expressed gratitude for the organisations’ humanitarian gesture noted that the partnership had achieved significant milestones, including the recruitment of 1,500 new health staff, retention of 400 health staff, and procurement of medical equipment which provides access to quality health services for the vulnerable population.
The governor disclosed that the state government plans to deploy telemedicine facilities across all primary healthcare centers, provide internet services, and build doctors’ accommodations to house medical personnel within the facilities.
Bago assured that the state would continue with child birth registration, leveraging on the Niger State Health Insurance Scheme, which, he said, aims to register over 250,000 Niger residents.
The Niger State Commissioner for Primary Healthcare Dr. Ibrahim Dangana, who represented the governor on Day-Two of the event, disclosed that the programme had made tremendous progress in reducing maternal and infant mortality in the state.
“This close-out does not mark the end of the MoU, as the governor has assured his commitment to sustaining the gains made and ensuring Niger state has a viable primary healthcare system,” he said
UNICEF Chief of Health, Dr. Shyam Pathak lauded the governor’s achievements and commended the contributions of traditional and religious institutions towards strengthening the primary healthcare system.
He called for increased investment, oversight, and improvement in sustaining the project, retaining health workers, maintaining equipment, and sustaining the mechanism of operation of services and data documentation.
The UNICEF Chief of Child Protection, Dr. Ibrahim Sesay, in her remarks, commended the Niger State Government for its commitment to birth registration, with over 400,000 children registered in 2024, exceeding the 100 per cent target.
Sesay announced that UNICEF would integrate services to issue national identification numbers to registered children, enabling the tracking of unimmunised children and identifying gaps in the system.
The World Health Organisation representative, Dr. Alex Chimbaru also commended the governor for his commitment to ensuring the project’s success, affirming that there had been a decrease in maternal and infant mortality rates.
Chimbaru attributed the success to the governor’s commitment and the community’s hard work, stressing that sustainability was crucial to maintaining the progress made.
