Kaduna State has been selected as the best performing state during the first phase of the 2015 Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCH), a statement by the governor’s media aide, Samuel Aruwan, said on Sunday.
The news of the prize was conveyed to Governor Nasir El-Rufai in a letter signed by Dr. Bilali Camara, the Country Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Camara’s letter explained that Kaduna was adjudged the best state because during the MNCH week, its hospitals counseled and tested 84,000 pregnant women for HIV during the period, and referred everyone that tested positive to a treatment facility.
According to Aruwan, UNAIDS said that the letter to Governor El-Rufai and the prize awarded “serve to witness this unparalleled nationwide MNCH Week success in Kaduna State”.
He said UNAIDS noted that the state advanced the objective to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and therefore, decided to recognise this achievement by pledging USD 14,000 (N2.8 million) to support the Kaduna State Government in the next phase of the MNCH Week.
In a related development, the state’s healthcare system also got a boost as MTN Foundation has selected five state hospitals to benefit from its maternity ward support project (MWSP).
The beneficiary hospitals, according to a statement are: Yusuf Dantsoho Hospital, Kaduna, General Hospital, Kafanchan, Jubrin Maigari Hospital, Birnin-Gwari, Hajiya Gambo Sawaba Hospital, Zaria and the Dabo Lere Memorial Hospital, Saminaka.
A letter from MTN Foundation notified Malam El-Rufai that the five hospitals were selected after rigorous inspection and verification of the expression of interest submitted by Kaduna State.
“As a result of their selection, the maternal wards of each of the hospitals will get 20 adjustable hospital beds, 20 bedside cupboards, 10 foldable ward screens, 20 hydraulic over-bed tables, 20 visitor chairs, two neonatal incubators, 20 baby cots, 10 drip stands, 20 mattresses and 40 pillows”, the statement said.
It added that all the maternal wards will be renovated, with the provision of toilets and a nurse’s bay.
