Bauchi,UNICEF, Intensified Efforts in Improving Pregnancy Outcome
By Adamu IMAM Bauchi -- 3rd Sept, 2024
In an effort to improve pregnancy outcome the Bauchi state government in collaboration with United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF has received 134,280 bottles of multiple micronutrient supplement MMS and expected more supply as the project implementation progresses.
The UNICEF representative Philomena Irene on the Inception meeting for the Scaling Up of MMS for Pregnant Women in Bauchi with top state government officials with the sole aim in improving pregnancy outcome in the state
The representative stated that, "We are here today to launch the scale up, and this lifesaving initiative is generously funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and implemented by UNICEF in partnership with the Government of Nigeria and the Bauchi state government,
and this initiative is expected to strengthen the ante-natal platforms to deliver high impact maternal nutrition interventions in Bauchi state".
She also confirmed that, NDHIS 2018 show that only 23 percent of the 381,364 pregnant women in Bauchi state receives iron and folic acid supplementation, which is crucial in reducing the risk of low birth weight, maternal anaemia, and iron deficiency.
Irene further stressed, this initiative will also strengthen the capacity of health workers to effectively forecast and update MMS administration to pregnant women in Bauchi on the Logistics Health Management Information system (LHIMS) and DHIS 2 platforms.
UNICEF further maintained that, the scale up of MMS for pregnant women aligns with the Nigerian government’s plan to reduce anemia among pregnant women to 40 per cent by 2025. It also feeds into the SDG 2030 goal of reducing anemia among pregnant women by 50 percent by 2030.
"For this innovation to be sustained, UNICEF will work with the Bauchi State Government to ensure MMS is included in the annual state procurement plan and that funds are released through the Child Nutrition Fund for the procurement of MMS" she added.
Furthermore, she revealed that, UNICEF will continue to support Bauchi state government to mitigate the effects of anaemia in pregnancy and scale up MMS to all pregnant women.
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