News Investigators/ Niger government says it had partnered with Georgetown Global Health Nigeria (GGHN) to deliver health and nutrition services to women and children in hard-to-reach communities in the state.
Ibrahim Dangana, Commissioner for Primary Healthcare in Niger, said this when he received a delegation of GGHN led by Raji Egigogo, in Minna.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that GGHN is a leading organization dedicated to enhancing public health services across Africa clinical care, epidemiological research and rapid response.
Mr Dangana, who was represented by Dr Mohammed Gana, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, said the initiative aligned with Gov. Umaru Bago vision of prioritising maternal and child health in the state.
He disclosed that the partnership was built around Integrated Maternal and Child Health Outreach (IMCHO) initiative, which aimed to reach areas that had never received immunisation in the state.
Earlier, Mr Egigogo said that the project was designed to deliver life-saving health and nutrition services to women and children in fragile, conflict affected, violence prone and hard-to-reach communities.
He disclosed that over 24.9 million children, under five, had been vaccinated through the Reach Every Settlement (RES) strategy since 2022.
He emphasised the potential for nationwide impact of the project, adding that the IMCHO initiative had the potential to tackle the zero dose challenge in Niger and offer hope for nationwide impact.
He noted that pilot scheme implemented in Wushishi and Munya local governments had yielded positive results.
Mr Egigogo said 168 children had received routine immunisation antigens in Wushishi while in Munya 46 per cent of the targeted population unreached were vaccinated.
“These results demonstrate that even in the most challenging settings, zero dose children can be reach through integrated community based outreach,” he said.
He said that GGHN aimed to reach every child in the communities hence the need for the partnership.
NAN