The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reassured its preparedness and commitment to collaborate with the Imo State government to ensure that the aims and objectives of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health week (MNCH) programme is achieved.
The chief of field office, UNICEF Enugu, Mrs Juliet Chiluwe gave the reassurance at the flag off ceremony of the 2026 First Round Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW), organised by the Imo State Primary Health Care Development Agency in collaboration with the State Ministry of Health and partners, The Gates Foundation and Vitamin Angels, in Owerri, Imo State.
She noted that the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week approved by the council on health on her 54th meeting has offered opportunity to reach children with vitamin A and Bendazole.
Chiluwe said all other services including routine immunisation, health promotion, birth registration and other interventions are simultaneously carried out within the week.
“We therefore encourage the State to make use of this opportunity to reach children of 9 years of age with HIV vaccines as well as ensure that the gains of the week are sustained,” she said.
In her goodwill message, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Nigeria, through the Imo State coordinator/ WHO, Imo field officer, Dr Wadzingi Williams Bassi, identified MNCHW as being more than a distribution exercise, stating that it is “Nigeria’s annual reminder that no mother should die giving birth, and no child should die from diseases we can prevent.” William Bassi added that “every vitamin A capsule, every vaccine dose, every antenatal check-up during this week is a statement that every life in every geography matters.”
According to him, the first days from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday shape a nation’s future saying, “When we protect mothers, we protect families; when we protect newborns, we protect the workforce of 2040; when we protect children under 5, we protect Nigeria’s greatest asset — its human capital.
He urged mothers and caregivers to take their children 0-59 months for vitamin A, deworming, immunization and growth monitoring at the nearest health facility or outreach point.
Wife of the state governor, Mrs Chioma Uzodimma, who performed the flag off ceremony through the commissioner for Health, Dr Chioma Egu, disclosed that the Hope Uzodimma-led administration had been consistent in the implementation of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) week in accordance with the National council on Health approval of bi-annual MNCH Week.
This, she said, is due to the integrated package of predominantly preventive and highly cost effective interventions provided during the programme which had proven effective in improving maternal and child survival.
While urging mothers, caregivers and families to take full advantage of the various healthcare services being offered during the week, the governor’s wife remarked that early childhood development, optimal nutrition services, immunization and regular check-ups are crucial for a child’s healthy growth.
