IntegratE 2.0 Reaches 221,010 Women With Family Planning Information in Bauchi
By Uzairu Dauda Bunga:
About 221,010 women of reproductive age in Bauchi State have been reached with family planning information, while 52,317 women accessed family planning services, including 18,894 new acceptors, under the IntegratE 2.0 project.
The project, implemented by the Society for Family Health (SFH) with funding from the Gates Foundation, in collaboration with the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria (PCN) and the Bauchi State Government, was designed to strengthen access to essential community-based healthcare services across the state.
Speaking at the IntegratE 2.0 project close-out meeting held at Maryama Hotel, Bauchi, the Group Managing Director of SFH, Dr Omokhudu Idogho said, the project had strengthened the capacity of 478 community pharmacists and patent and proprietary medicine vendors across 20 Local Government Areas of the state.
Represented by the SFH IntegratE Northeast Team Lead Mr Johnson Ekele, the Group Managing Director said the capacity-building programme focused on family planning service delivery, integrated community case management of childhood illnesses, proper record keeping and referral of patients to government-owned public health facilities.
He added that 91,906 children under the age of five received care and management for various primary health conditions from trained community pharmacists and patent and proprietary medicine vendors during the implementation of the project.
The Dr Omokhudu said the project also supported community-level interventions in the management of common childhood illnesses, including malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition, while strengthening access to child-spacing services.
In his remarks, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Sani Muhammad Dambam, acknowledged the contribution of the IntegratE project to improving the management of malaria, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition, as well as supporting family planning and child-spacing services in the state.
Dambam assured that the Bauchi State Government remained committed to sustaining the gains recorded through the project and ensuring that communities continue to benefit from improved access to essential healthcare services.
Also speaking, the Programme Director of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Foundation, Pharmacist Munir Elelu, commended the Bauchi State Government for its support and warm reception of the IntegratE project.
The close-out meeting brought together government officials, healthcare stakeholders, community pharmacists, patent and proprietary medicine vendors and development partners to review the achievements of the project and discuss the sustainability of its interventions beyond the project period.
