The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UNICEF

  • How Kanu Heart Foundation works

    Kanu Heart Foundation (KHF) is a charity organisation established by the Nigerian International and former English Premier League football striker, Nwankwo Kanu (a.k.a Papilo), who is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

    The foundation was established in 2000; to help under-privileged African children and young adults, living with different heart ailments in Nigeria and other African countries respectively, obtain the cardiac surgical operations needed.

    Kanu is trying to raise $35 million (N5 billion) to build a Cardiac Specialist Hospital that will offer free surgery services for children between one and 12 years while adult patients’ treatment will be highly subsidised.

    KHF has carried out 452 open heart surgeries since inception in 2000.

    All surgeries were done in foreign countries such as England, Israel, India, and Sudan.

    The capital flight involved is much.

    The Federal Government has given the KHF a piece of land in Abuja for the project.

     

    •Source:kanuheartfoundationng.com

  • Nets key to cutting malaria deaths and illness – UNICEF

    Nets key to cutting malaria deaths and illness – UNICEF

    Malaria still kills 660,000 people every year, most of them African children. Universal coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets is key in making gains against malaria – one of the largest killers of children in the world in the world, says UNICEF on World Malaria day.

    With partners, UNICEF champions and supports governments to undertake the free distribution of insecticide-treated nets – especially long-lasting insecticidal nets. When universal coverage – one net for every two people – is reached this simple, effective barrier can reduce child mortality by up to 20 per cent.

    In 2004, there were just 5.6 million bed nets in sub-Saharan Africa. Until recently limited competition among producers meant that they were too expensive to scale up. However, by 2010, bulk buying, joint procurement, better financing and extending manufacturing capacity into Africa meant that this number had increased to 145 million. A sustained, driven focus on high coverage with this very effective anti-malarial intervention contributed greatly to the 1.1 million lives that have been saved and a one-third decline in African malaria mortality rates that have been recorded since 2000. 

    “It is unacceptable that every day more than 1,500 children still die from a preventable and curable disease,” said Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF’s Director of Programmes. “We must distribute insecticide-treated nets to all who need them, provide timely testing for children and appropriate medicine when they are infected.”

    A three-day treatment will cure malaria infections, especially if an episode is diagnosed early enough and treated appropriately – in particular with artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). But many children, especially in Africa, still die from malaria as they do not sleep under insecticide-treated bed nets and are unable to access life-saving treatment within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms.

    UNICEF supports national efforts to train and provide community health workers with simple tools such as malaria rapid diagnostic tests so that children receive medicine quickly when needed. However, in Africa the proportion of treated children who receive a first-line treatment such as an ACT is less than 30 percent in most countries.

    UNICEF, with governments, donors and other partners, also looks for innovative ways to reach the most vulnerable and hardest to reach children in pursuit of universal coverage. For example, in addition to free net distributions during mass campaigns in the poorest and most remote areas, nets are also provided to children during routine immunizations and to pregnant women during ante-natal check-ups. UNICEF is also stepping up its efforts on integrated community case management, which brings a package of life-saving interventions closer to children, families and homes.

    It is estimated that enough nets were delivered over the last decade to cover 80 per cent of requirements in Sub-Saharan Africa. Many nets however are reaching the end of their useful life and must be replaced. Countries that had already reduced their malaria burdens by up to 50 per cent can quickly detect increased cases and deaths due to malaria if old, worn-out nets are not replaced.

    From 2000 to 2010, the proportion of children sleeping under an insecticide-treated net in sub-Saharan Africa grew from less than 5 per cent to over a third. But global procurement of long-lasting lasting insecticidal nets has dropped by 52 per cent against an annual target requirement of 150 million. Such a slowdown risks gravely undermining the gains to date.

    “We have made considerable progress in this fight, but cannot take our eyes off the goal of reducing malaria cases and deaths to zero. We must make sure that countries have the funding they need for malaria control and use it to protect their children and expectant mothers,” Mr. Alipui added.

    Fighting malaria not only saves the lives of children, but also yields many other health and economic benefits for affected communities. For example, reducing malaria improves the health of pregnant mothers and therefore their newborn babies, reduces school and work absenteeism. Eliminating malaria reduces the burden on over-stretched health centres. It is estimated there is a 40-fold return for every US$1 spent controlling malaria in Africa.

    There have been impressive gains and successes built on strong partnerships and the generous contributions of many donors – but these gains can be quickly lost if sustained focus and investments are not maintained.

  • Dangote Foundation donates $.5m to UNICEF to fight measles

    Dangote Foundation donates $.5m to UNICEF to fight measles

    The Dangote Foundation has donated $500,000 (about N79.15 million) through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to support the government’s response to recent measles outbreak across Nigeria.

    The donation was announced in Lagos when a delegation of UNICEF, led by its Country Representative, Ms. Jean Gough, visted the foundation’s president, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

    Gough hailed the foundation for its gesture.

    She said: “Public/private sector interventions, such as these in the health and other sectors, including water and early childhood development, are the way forward for Nigeria to improve the well-being of Nigerian children.”

    The grant is a major contribution to Federal Government’s fight against measles, which is among the leading causes of child deaths in Nigeria.

    Dangote said: “We have a common synergy with UNICEF in the areas of health, education and nutrition and we hope that our efforts will encourage even more private sector engagement with on-going efforts to improve the well-being of Nigerians.”

  • UNICEF to support fight against malnutrition in seven states

    United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund has pledged to support the fight against food and acute malnutrition crisis in seven states in northern part of the country.

    The Chief of ‘D’ Office of the UNICEF in Bauchi, Mrs. Edele Thebaud, made this known on Tuesday at a one-day advocacy meeting organised by UNICEF for stakeholders from those states.

    The states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano and Yobe.

    She said that the states have high malnutrition crisis.

    “UNICEF in 2009 initiated the Community Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme to implement the fight against malnutrition in those states respectively,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Thebaud as saying at the forum.

    She added that the programme began with three pilots local government areas in Gombe State before it was expanded to 42 other local governments in the seven states over the years.

    “From inception, almost 200,000 malnourished children were admitted at the progrmme with over 60 per cent treated while others were still undergoing treatment,’’ Thebaud said.

    In addition, Thebaud revealed that apart from the technical support provided by UNICEF to the programme, it also supported the CMAM in the seven states with 15 million sachets of Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF).

     

  • The case for better sanitation

    The case for better sanitation

    As part of activities to mark this year’s world toilet day, the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) ranks Nigeria fifth among countries whose citizens defecate in the open. UNICEF estimated that about 34 million Nigerians engage in open defecation.

    Consequently, it was estimated that about 500,000 Nigerian children die every year from diarrhea and respiratory infections alone. While diarrhea is responsible for 194,000 deaths, respiratory infections kill about 240,000.

    The absence of public toilets in some places contributes immensely to the pollution of water as the improper disposal of human waste filters directly to waterways. Many Nigerians depend on unfiltered water for drinking and cooking and this add to the spread of infectious diseases.

    The impact of poor sanitation culture and improper disposal of excreta on water resources cannot be overemphasized. Many are always in the habit of throwing out their waste garbage in the open because the entire sanitation system has collapsed.

    It is the responsibility of every Nigerian to maintain good sanitation standard by ensuring that their environs are clean through proper disposal of waste. Most states in the country observe monthly environmental sanitation on the last Saturday of every month during which everyone is expected clean their environment while the exercise last. Unfortunately this goal has not been achieved to a greater extent.

    However, the alternative way out of this mess is the rehabilitation of existing public toilet and construction of new ones in all markets, schools, bus stops and other public places. The government should make the provision of these facilities a priority in the rural communities. Partnering with corporate organizations and institutions to make financial commitments towards sanitation is also very necessary.

    Mobile toilets may be the best option in a place where construction of new toilets may not be possible. Youths should be engaged to ensure that the facilities are functional and well maintained.

     

    Additionally landlords both in the rural and urban communities should be compelled to have at least toilets in their buildings. Local community health centres should be established in every local government of the federation to ensure that all toilets in the area are in healthy state.

     

    Most importantly, there is urgent need for the sensitization of the general public on the risk of open defecation on the human health and the need to stop it.

     

  • UNICEF, media fight malnutrition

    UNICEF, media fight malnutrition

    The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is partnering the media in the fight against food insufficiency and malnutrition in the North.

    The global organisation is seeking to strengthen its campaign by taking the message to the intended audience through the media.

    The media, on their part, are proving to be willing partners, calling on corporate bodies and philanthropists to join the effort.

    Food and nutrition crisis have resulted in the malnourishment of many children in Nigeria, with severe cases in the North.

    The partnership was made with the UNICEF D Field Office at a one-day media sensitisation meeting held at Tahir Guest Palace, Kano. In attendance were no fewer than 52 journalists drawn from the 10 Northeastern states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba and Yobe.

    The theme of the workshop was Sahelian Food and Nutrition Crisis: A Call for Collective Action.

    During the presentation, Mr. Niyi Oyedokun, a nutritionist, gave a background of the food and nutrition crisis. He said there were early indications last year of a looming severe food insecurity and nutritional crisis.

    He said projected figures available in November 2011 suggested that over 1 million children would suffer this year from severe acute malnutrition in eight countries of the Sahel, including Northern Nigeria.

    The affected countries, according Oyedokun, include: Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Northern Senegal, Northern Cameroon and Northern Nigeria.

    Oyedokun explained that the situation in the North is one of “elevated levels of acute malnutrition”, which underscores a crisis situation in states in the Sahelian belt.

    Acute malnutrition, it was learnt, is a condition represented by measures of thinness or bilateral edema and represents current nutritional status. Thus, children with severe acute malnutrition are nine times likely to die from any causes than those who are not. Without any intervention, severe acute malnutrition has up to 60% mortality risk.

    UNICEF Media and External Relations Officer, Bauchi Field Office, Mr. Samuel Kaalu highlighted the magnitude of the crisis; how it has become a threat in the country, particularly the north.

    Kaalu led the participants to visit a Community based Acute Malnutrition Management (CAMM) site, located at Malikawa Garu, Bichi local government area of Kano.

    At the healthcare centre, where malnourished children were being treated, journalists could not believe what they saw. The affected kids looked very thin, emaciated and skeletal. They were said to have lost appetite to eat. They were seen being rehabilitated.

     In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the participants resolved to also contribute to the efforts being made by UNICEF, to redressing the situation, by increasing reportage on the severity of malnutrition and also to promote awareness among stakeholders.

    They called on the public to support the campaign on exclusive breast feeding by mothers for the first six months of their lives.

    The state governments of the 10 D Field Office were called to accelerate the establishment of State Statutory Food and Nutrition Committees and as well create a separate budget line for the implementation of State Nutrition Plan of Action.

  • Nigerian children not free from polio

    Nigerian, Pakistani and Afghanistan children are still affected by polio.

    These are the remaining polio-endemic countries, the United Nation’s Children Education Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director, Anthony Lake, has said.

    He made this known during the World Polio Day (WPD) in New York.

    According to him, many children are still ravaged by this virus.

    He said: “It is the children in the hardest to reach areas of these and other countries that are most at risk. Others are with disabilities, the impoverished, and those living in conflict zones or remote areas.

    “India’s example shows we can reach them. And we will reach them – by working together.

    “In September at the UN General Assembly, the leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, as well as government donors, civil society and the private sector reconfirmed their commitment to rid the world of polio. And out in the field, courageous health workers — the real heroes of this effort — risk their lives  daily to seek out and immunise children, often at great personal risk.

    “We have come so far together in the fight to end polio. We have the means to finish the job. We can make history. Or we can fail to seize the moment. Lest history judge us harshly, let a polio-free world be our legacy to the next generation of children.”

    Lake said the day is a reminder of all that has been achieved together in the fight against polio.

    “There is much to celebrate. Fewer children than ever before suffer the debilitating effects of this cruel disease. For the first time in its history, this year, India was declared polio free. We can see before us the finish line: the eradication of polio,” Lake said.

    He added: “But WPD is also a sobering reminder that, as in many long distance races, the last mile is the hardest one.”

  • UNICEF to tackle malnutrition

    UNICEF to tackle malnutrition

    Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department for International Development (DFID) to further strengthen the state’s Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS).

    The event took place in the Government House, Awka, with the Head of DFID in Nigeria, Mr Richard Montgomery signing for the agency while Obi signed on behalf of Anambra State government.

    Obi said the partnership was to strengthen development in the state that had been on through Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS).

    Obi said: “Our goal for achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2015 cannot wane. We have clearly designed a vision to achieving that and that is the essence of signing this (MoU) with DFID.

    “We have been the first state in the country in many things and we are continuing with that spirit. We have many institutions coming to Anambra State and we are going to create more and that is a good way of fighting poverty.

    “There are some local government areas in the state like Ogbaru, Anambra West, Anambra East, Awka North and Orumba North that are stricken with poverty. In collaboration with all these institutions, this administration will fight it head-on.

    “When I assumed duty as the governor of this state, all development partners had left. I have brought them back. Signing this MOU will help in our commitment to turning this state around.

    ”Our commitment is to take this state from bad to good and whoever that comes after me will take it from good to better and that is the vision.

    “We thank DFID for their support and it will help us in the works we are doing here and also help us to build Anambra State. Just tell us those things we are doing wrong and we will do them right,”

    The Head of DFID in Nigeria, Richard Montgomery had praised Obi for his initiatives in taking Anambra State to the Promised Land, adding that it would be a collective responsibility in doing that with the agency.

    He said Obi was a kind of person who tries to take up challenges, even as he said that DFID was ready to partner with the administration in all things.

    Montgomery further said that the programme already started in Anambra State by (SUN-MAP); an off shoot of the agency, had been a huge success, adding that DFID had a good working relationship with Anambra State in particular and Nigeria as a whole.

    Earlier the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Prof. Stella Okunna said that Obi has been doing his best with the meager resources available to the state, adding that with the partnership with DFID, it would be a new dawn in the state.

    She said that more partners had been coming to the state because of the good working relationship other partners like World Bank, UNICEF among others had with Obi’s administration.

    The South-East, South-South zonal coordinator of DFID, Mrs Olachi Chuks Onah, said that DFID would start with five programmes, adding that very soon; additional ones would start in the state.

    The programmes, according to her, included governance, justice sector otherwise known as justice for all, accountability which had to partner with the state House of Assembly, civil societies, and cross sector coordination.