The Aliko Dangote Foundation, in partnership with the Kano State Government, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has signed a three-way Memorandum of Understanding on routine immunisation in the state.
The Memorandum of Understanding was first signed in 2012, when the Aliko Dangote Foundation, Kano State Government, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation agreed to work together to improve the health of women and children in Kano, the country’s second most populous state.
In response to the first MoU’s success, the three parties signed a second addendum in 2017 in order to improve on the previous goal.
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However, the third health MoU signing has seen the inclusion of UNICEF as the fourth participating party in the agreement.
Speaking shortly before the official signing of the MoU, Wednesday at the Kano state Government House, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Yousefou, congratulated the state government for achieving the objectives of the addendum ll.
Mrs Yousefou commended the state government for its efforts to sustain funding for all RI activities, thereby increasing the state’s RI budget by 22 percent over the past 6 years, despite challenges to the fiscal space.
The MD/CEO also noted with the signing of the third addendum, it is important to note that while the parties have made a lot of progress together, they remain far from achieving the target maternal and child health outcomes.
“We need to ensure that we use the lessons learned from the prior years to develop and effectively execute better-suitted strategies that ensjre we fast-track progress and ultimately achieve the Health MoU addendum lll’s targets.
“One such area of improvement is the need to devolve the programme’s oversight to lower levels and ensure LGA health teams are responsible for driving implementation across the warss in their LGA.
“Wr need to ensure that our health teams at LGA and ward levels have the autonomy and resources they need to deliver within their specific contexts while holding them accountable for the results,” she said.
Mrs Yousefou also urged traditional rulers to remain tireless in their efforts to ensure the people take demand and utilize essential health services, including immunization, nutrition and maternal and reproductive health services.
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In his remarks, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said the state had achieved significant milestone in healthcare services to the citizenry.
Ganduje noted that the signing of the health MoU addendum lll is testimony to the commitment of the state towards improvement of healthcare services.
