Stakeholders map out strategies to reduce child mortality in North-East
Stakeholders in the health sector from Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa and Taraba States have met to strategise ways of reducing child mortality in the zone through cost-effective and evidence-based health interventions.
The stakeholders under the auspices of the Conditional Cash Transfer for Routine Immunisation Programme
supported by New Incentives-All Babies are Equal (N-ABAE) in the concerned states held their meeting on Wednesday at the Tahir Guest Palace, Kano State.
Our Correspondent reports that the meeting was chaired by the Commissioner of Health, Gombe State, Dr Habu Dahiru who was represented by his Permanent Secretary at the ministry and moderated by the Stakeholder Relations Director of NI-ABAE.
The objectives of the meeting were to review program progress, share experiences including challenges, present state and LGA reports, and proffer solutions to implementation gaps.
During the engagement, participants extensively discussed vaccine supply, use of program data, and ownership of the supported CCT Programme by the state government.
At the end of the meeting which is the 5th Bi-annual joint stakeholder meeting on Conditional Cash Transfer for Routine Immunisation, coordinated by the Gombe SPHCDA and co-hosted by the Bauchi SPHCDA, Jigawa SPHCDA, Adamawa SPHCDA and Taraba SPHCDA, a communique was issued.
According to the communique, stakeholders resolved that the All Babies program will continue to align its implementation with the Federal and State laws, and policies including routine immunisation plans and priorities.
Also all concerned states are expected to develop a plan on how to reduce the stockout of vaccines while ensuring adequate distribution of vaccines from the state down to the clinic levels as well as consider the capacity of the personnel managing the vaccines to improve documentation and reduce high wastage rates.
The stakeholders pledged to prioritise uninterrupted vaccine supply by Cold Chain Officers at all levels with the support of N-ABAE and to continue as well as further logistics support and information-gathering to provide targeted interventions by state.
Our Correspondent also reports that NI-ABAE is an NGO providing incentives to create demand for routine immunisation.
The All Babies programme has made impact since the program was scaled up in January 2021.
The All Babies program had enrolled over 1 million infants, encouraged over 9.5 million vaccinations, and disbursed N2.3 billion to caregivers in collaboration with staff at over 4,000 government clinics in 124 LGAs.
In 109 of these LGAs, the All Babies program operates in nearly all government clinics.
An independent randomised control trial of the All Babies program (2017- 2020) found that the program increases the likelihood that children would be fully immunised by 27 per cent and increase rates of individual vaccinations by 14 to 21 per cent.
Additionally, the research found that the program contributed to improved timeliness of vaccines as well as improved knowledge of and attitudes toward vaccines among caregivers.
