Women Tasks Kaduna On Maternal, Newborn Healthcare

Some women in Kaduna North Senatorial District yesterday urged the state government to improve healthcare services for women and children in Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs).
The women made the call in Zaria at a townhall meeting organised by an NGO, Connected Development (CODE), over N191 million worth of constituency projects in the zone.
The women pointed out that the state government had declared free drugs and treatment for pregnant women and children under five years in the state.
They, however, said that they still buy most of the drugs they needed  from their pockets.
One of them, Mrs Aisha Aliyu, from Hanwa in Sabon Gari Local Government Area of the state, claimed that the only drugs they get in the hospitals were mostly Panadol, Paracetamol, septrin and antimalaria.
She said that most times the health officers complained that drugs were not supplied to the facilities by the Drugs and Medical Supplies Management Agency.
Also, Mrs Rakiya Suleiman, from Ikara Local Government Area, said: “the health officers only give us drugs of about N200 or N300.
“They usually ask us to buy any drugs that are about N500 or N1000 in pharmaceutical stores outside the facilities.”