…says before UNICEF came, the turnout of women was not as it is now
A medical practitioner, Mrs. Obi Testimony has lauded the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for its various medical interventions, particularly among women and children in Anambra state.
Obi, Officer in Charge of the Primary Health Center, Amansea, Awka North Local Government Area of the state gave the commendation during the ongoing free medical outreach sponsored through Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF).
She said the mortality rate of babies suffering from diarhea and vomiting has reduced following introduction of rotavirus vaccines, sponsorship of outreaches, health talks, among others interventions.
She said, “Before UNICEF came, the turnout of women was not as it is now. There are so many things UNICEF introduced that boost their moral, including distribution of ‘pluses’ like biscuits, soaps and indomie noodles.
“After receiving the ‘pluses’, the women happily go back to their places of abode and share their stories with others who have not been coming to immunize their children.
“Again, due to increasing number of women in our facility, we now carry out immunization for children every Wednesday unlike before when it was only twice a month.
“More importantly, the mortality rate of babies under one year has also reduced drastically due to introduction of oral vaccines for diarhea prevention among children.
“We used to have large numbers of children suffering from diarhea and vomiting. But since this year, we’ve not recorded any of such cases among babies under one or five.”
Earlier, Local Immunization Officer, Awka North, Mrs. Gloria Okpete disclosed that the 5-day outreach would cover 10 Local Government Areas of the state ravaged by 2022 flood disaster.
She said no fewer than 50 persons have been attended to within two days of the exercise which would cover 14 wards in the Area Council.
“We’re administring integrated vaccines for COVID-19, meascles and other diseases. We also organising health talks for the women on how to take proper care of their children,” she added.
