55,000 Children Get Treatment Under MDG Programme

No fewer than 55,000 children under the age of five have received free treatment in Imo under the Free Maternal and Child Health programme of the Millennium Development Goals.  The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Vincent Udokwu, disclosed this in an interview with The Tide’s source  in Owerri.

He also said that 11,000 pregnant women had benefitted from the programme, which is being implemented under the National Health Insurance Scheme. Imo is one of the six pilot states in the country, selected by the NHIS/MDG office for the implementation of the programme, flagged off in 2009.

Udokwu said that Abo Mbaise, Isiala Mbano and Orlu Local Government Areas were being used as pilot local government areas for the programme in Imo.

The commissioner said the government had planned to extend the programme to Obowo, and Mbaitoli Local Government Areas in no distant time. The source  reports that under the programme, the state government gets N700 million annually and contributes about N83 million counterpart fund for the project.

The NHIS/MDG Free Maternal and Child Health programme is expected to last for five years.

On HIV and AIDS, Udokwu attributed the current decrease in the prevalence rate of the scourge in the state to an increase in awareness of the disease.

He also said that increased facilities for testing and for the treatment of the disease, as well as counselling had helped to decrease the prevalence rate. Udokwu said that because of the increased awareness, more infected people, who before now concealed their status, were taking advantage of the free counselling and treatment provided by government.

The source  reports that the HIV and AIDS prevalence rate in Imo dropped from 4.6 per cent to 3.9 per cent after the 2008 sentinel survey of the scourge in Nigeria.

The commissioner said that before the survey, the state aimed to reduce the prevalence rate to 2.1 per cent.

He was optimistic that the rate was likely to drop after the next survey because of the government’s commitment to curtailing the scourge.

He said that Gov. Ikedi Ohakim’s administration was waging a fierce war against all health problems in the state.