By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
Alive and Thrive fhi360 Project has reiterated that its resolve to create demand for the uptake of the Multiple Micronutrient Supplement (MMS) across the 20 LGAs in Bauchi state in order to achieve positive outcomes of pregnancy.
The Project is also working hard in implementing the acceleration of the maternal, child health and nutrition in Bauchi state towards improving the maternal needs of the state.
In addition, the Project is now creating demand in the various communities across the state for effective and efficient introduction of the Multiple Micronutrient Supplement (MMS) in pregnancy.
The disclosure was made by the State Coordinator of the Project, Chidi Asimobi at a one-day Inception Meeting of Scale Up of MMS, organized by the State Government in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) funded Fhi360 Alive and Thrive Project.
According to him, “What we are doing today is an addition to what is already in existence through our ASMIYCN.
For us in the Alive and Thrive Project, in order to contribute to what is on ground and to avoid contaminating the Implementation Research in the State, we are going to start demand creation in 5 LGAs of Alkaleri,, Kirfi, Toro, Itas/Gadau and Zaki.”
He added that,”By the end of the implementation in the state, we will have scaled up to the other 15 LGAs including the 3 that Nutrition International will be exiting from after their Implementation Reserach.
He however said that,”A&T is going to do that with the commodities UNICEF has procure, because it is a joint venture with BMGF. For us at Alive and Thrive, the activities will be to train our community volunteers to be able to create awareness and demand for MMS at the community levels and also to train our health workers to be able to understand what to do with the MMS consignment that will be coming to their various facilities.”
Chidiebere Asimobi said that the training would be for the CVs and Healthcare Workers across the Twenty local government areas of the state, noting that the move is aimed at strengthening interpersonal communication and community mobilization towards ensuring appropriate use of the supplement.
The supplements which is targeted primarily at pregnant and lactating women, aims to fill nutritional gaps in their diet, support overall health and well-being, prevent or treat micronutrient deficiencies, improve immune function and energy levels as well as enhance cognitive function and development.
He stressed that the training would enable the health workers to do some checks to determine the appropriate dosage of MMS for individual needs.
He assured that the existing community volunteers would also be acquainted with the right information and they would be wearing a piece of clothing with an inscription “Ask Me About MMS, I’m Here To Help”, so that anyone seeking clarification would get adequate explanation at that very moment.
The State Coordinator of the BMGF funded Alive and Thrive fhi360 Project assured of continued support to the state government, particularly on the promotion of Maternal and Young Child Nutrition (MYCN) services.
“On that note, we also want to thank the Bauchi state Government for giving us the enabling environment to be able to integrate our full activities into that of the MMS which is also part of what we need to do for our mothers and I stand today to say that with what we have seen in Bauchi state, the issue of anemia in pregnancy will be reduced to the barest minimum at the next survey.”
On his own, the Executive Chairman, State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed commended UNICEF, Alive and Thrive fhi360 Project, Nutrition International and other Implementing Partners for their numerous interventions in the state.
Also speaking, the Managing Director, Bauchi State Drugs and Medical Consumable Management Agency, Abdulkadir Ahmed said that the 134,280 bottles of MMS received from UNICEF were safely kept, assuring its total protection against theft or misappropriation.
Some of the pregnant women from Bauchi metropolis at the launching, acknowledged the unquantifiable importance of MMS in preventing Anemia in pregnancy and promised to make good use of the 180 tablets in bottle for the good of their health and that of the unborn babies.
