COV/Usman MZ, Jigawa.
The Inspiring Project managed by Save the Children in collaboration with the Jigawa state ministry of health has inaugurated the ‘Every Breath Counts Coalition
Speaking, during the inauguration ceremony at the state ministry of health, the permanent secretary Dr Salisu Mu’azu explained that evidence over the years had indicated that pneumonia was a leading cause of illness and death in children under the age of 5 in all parts of the country.
According to him, currently there is a deficiency in knowledge and skills among front line health workers to effectively manage the condition.
Dr. Salisu Mu’azu said the Inspiring Project, managed by Save the Children in collaboration with the state and stakeholders, would implement interventions towards targeting health care workers, communities and care givers on Pneumonia.
Also speaking, the coordinator of the project, Dr Adamu Isah pointed out that over one hundred and twenty thousand children die annually across the country as a result of Pneumonia.
He disclosed that two-third of children the, die in the first years of thier lives.
Dr Adamu Isah said the disease requires serious attention from global health stakeholders, as was given to HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Radio Nigeria reports that the Committee consists the Permanent Secretary, state ministry of health, professional bodies, representatives from the private sector, health directors and the civil society.
Some of the committee’s terms of reference are to develop and adopt a national Pneumonia control strategy based on local information and data, to improve health resource mobilisation from state, national and international agencies, particularly resources allocated to Pneumonia related interventions.
Others are to support the state government’s effort to prioritise child Pneumonia treatment and efforts at attracting funding from international agencies.
Similarly, the need for advocacy campaigns to encourage behavioural change among care givers and health workers to end child Pneumonia-realated deaths by 2030.