Kaduna launches TBA policy, deploys health equipment to strengthen maternal, child care - Blueprint Newspapers Limited
Spread the wordThe Kaduna state government has launched a new policy and guidelines for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and deployed Adolescent and Young People (AYP) Safe Space equipment and Maternal,. . .
Spread the wordThe Kaduna state government has launched a new policy and guidelines for Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and deployed Adolescent and Young People (AYP) Safe Space equipment and Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) consumables to selected primary healthcare centres across the state. The twin interventions, supported by UNICEF and Global Affairs Canada (GAC), are aimed at strengthening primary healthcare delivery, improving maternal and child health outcomes and ensuring adolescents and young people have better access to appropriate health information and services. Speaking at the events in Kaduna on Tuesday, deputy governor Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe said the interventions demonstrated the value of collaboration between the state government and development partners in addressing critical healthcare needs. Balarabe, who represented Governor Uba Sani at the deployment of the equipment, said the government was committed to building a health system where every citizen could access quality healthcare regardless of age, location or economic circumstance. She said the AYP Safe Spaces would provide adolescents and young people with accessible, confidential and youth-friendly platforms for health information, counselling and appropriate services. The deputy governor also stressed the importance of making essential MNCH equipment and consumables available at primary healthcare facilities, saying they were critical to preventing complications and saving the lives of mothers and children. “Every mother deserves quality care throughout pregnancy, during childbirth and after delivery. Every newborn deserves the best possible start in life, while every child deserves timely and appropriate healthcare,” she said. Balarabe said Kaduna had continued to prioritise healthcare under the SUSTAIN Agenda, including allocating at least 15 per cent of the state budget to the sector. She, however, noted that government resources alone could not address the needs of the state’s growing population, making partnerships such as the intervention with UNICEF and GAC essential. She urged the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board and beneficiary facilities to properly utilise, maintain and account for the equipment and consumables. The deputy governor said the real measure of the intervention would be its impact on people’s lives rather than the volume of materials deployed. “Its true measure will be the number of women who receive better care, the number of newborns whose lives are protected, the number of children who receive timely treatment, and the number of adolescents and young people who are able to access appropriate health services,” she said. At the launch of the TBA policy, guidelines and Social and Behaviour Change (SBC) Strategy for Nutrition Across the Life Course, Commissioner for Health, Hajiya Umma K. Ahmed, said the government was seeking to regulate and better integrate TBAs into the formal healthcare system. She said TBAs remained influential in many communities, particularly among women facing barriers to accessing health facilities, adding that the new framework would define their roles, strengthen referral pathways and promote early identification of danger signs. According to her, the policy would support efforts to ensure pregnant women receive antenatal care, deliver with skilled health personnel and are promptly referred to health facilities when complications arise. Ahmed also said the nutrition strategy would promote healthy practices from pregnancy and infancy through childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age, with emphasis on maternal nutrition, exclusive breastfeeding and complementary feeding. She cautioned that the success of the new frameworks would depend on their implementation. “The true value of these documents will not be measured by their publication, but by how effectively they are implemented across our ministries, departments and agencies, local government areas, health facilities and communities,” she said. The UNICEF Chief of Field Office in Kaduna, Dr Gerida Birukila, meanwhile, called for stronger efforts to change harmful health and nutrition practices in communities. Birukila particularly stressed the importance of exclusive breastfeeding and proper nutrition during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, urging community stakeholders to provide mothers with accurate information. She also called for continued attention to immunisation and other preventive healthcare measures, stressing that behavioural change was critical to reducing preventable deaths. The state government and UNICEF urged health workers, traditional and religious leaders, communities and other stakeholders to take ownership of the interventions and ensure they translate into improved health services and outcomes across Kaduna State. Spread the word