The Kano State Ministry of Health, in collaboration with Pathfinder International, the Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI), the African Centre for Excellence in Population Health and Policy (ACEPHAP) and other partners, has concluded a two-day Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCA+N) Technical Working Group meeting to review progress and address gaps in healthcare delivery across the state.
The meeting, held at the Comfort Hub Hotel and Suites, Kano, brought together government officials, development partners, KanSLAM and other stakeholders to assess achievements recorded in the first and second quarters, identify persistent challenges and agree on strategies to improve maternal, newborn and child health outcomes.
Representing the Commissioner of Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, the Director-General of the Kano State Drug and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA), Pharmacist Ghali Sule, said the quarterly meeting was aimed at assessing the current health situation in the state and finding practical solutions to identified challenges.
“The essence of this Technical Working Group meeting is to update stakeholders on the current situation of maternal and child health in Kano, identify the gaps and challenges we are facing, and collectively determine the best ways to address them,” he said.
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He said the quarterly nature of the meeting was intended to ensure that emerging challenges were identified early and translated into actionable solutions.
At the end of this meeting, we expect to have a clear action plan, timelines for implementation and designated persons responsible for ensuring that the agreed actions are carried out,” Sule said.
On access to Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) by private health facilities, Sule said the state government was already making arrangements to ensure that the commodity was available through the DMCSA.
He said the initiative was aimed at improving access to essential commodities, particularly for patients who require nutritional support.
Sule also said Kano had recorded a significant reduction in maternal mortality over the past two to three years, estimating the decline at about 40 per cent from the earlier figures.
“There has been a drastic reduction in maternal mortality in Kano State. Although I do not have the latest figure with me at the moment, the reduction from the figures recorded two or three years ago is significant,” he said.
Representing Pathfinder International, the Technical Adviser for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Digital Health, Dr Olufemi Itoye, said the meeting provided an opportunity for government actors and development partners to jointly review progress and identify areas requiring greater attention.
“The objective is to bring all the state actors and stakeholders together to review the achievements of the first and second quarters, identify the gaps and lessons learned, and develop a roadmap that will align our collective efforts towards reducing maternal and neonatal mortality,” Itoye said.
He said the meeting would produce a communiqué and roadmap containing specific actions, responsible institutions and timelines for implementation.
“The communiqué will clearly identify who is responsible for each action and when it should be implemented. This is important because we want every ministry, department, agency and partner involved in the Technical Working Group to understand their responsibilities,” he said.
Itoye stressed the need for development partners to align their interventions with the priorities and operational plans of the state government rather than working independently.
We do not want partners to work in silos. There are many donor-driven activities, but the critical question is how we can align those activities with the state’s priorities and operational plan so that implementation is coordinated and everybody is carried along,” he said.
According to him, such coordination would help prevent duplication, improve the use of available resources and ensure that interventions were targeted at the most critical service delivery gaps.
“The lessons from the first and second quarters must guide what we do in the remaining quarters and in the coming year. We need to do things differently where necessary and ensure that the same gaps are not repeated,” Itoye said.
He said improving the availability and distribution of maternal, newborn and child health commodities would remain a priority, particularly in ensuring that essential commodities reached the last mile.
“The work plan and the roadmap for MNCH commodities should ensure that these commodities get to the last mile, while also allowing us to incorporate the innovations that are coming on board,” he said.
Itoye explained that the intervention was part of the Advocacy and Implementation of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health project, which is being implemented in 16 states, including Kano, by a consortium led by ACEPHAP, with CCSI and other partners participating.
“Our role is to provide technical support, bring the relevant stakeholders together, coordinate the process and follow up on implementation. But this remains a state-led activity, and our objective is to support the state in achieving its priorities,” he said.
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Meanwhile, the State Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Coordinator, Mansura Yahya Haruna, said data from the project showed that Kano’s maternal mortality ratio had dropped to 358 per 100,000 live births, compared with the previous figure of 1,025 per 100,000 live births.
“The data we are currently using shows that our maternal mortality ratio is 358 per 100,000 live births. When compared with the previous figure of 1,025 per 100,000 live births, this represents more than a 50 per cent reduction,” Haruna said.
She said the state would continue to rely on data to guide its interventions, adding that efforts to reduce maternal deaths would cover the entire state rather than being restricted to the identified MAMI LGAs.
“Because our interventions are data-driven and we have seen the results, we are looking at Kano State as a whole. We are not limiting our interventions to only the MAMI LGAs,” she said.
Haruna said the government was planning to scale up essential newborn care, strengthen antenatal and postnatal services and establish neonatal corners across primary and secondary healthcare facilities.
“Part of the plan is to scale up essential newborn care from the point of birth and strengthen antenatal and postnatal care. We also plan to establish neonatal corners across facilities so that every newborn can be properly assessed and receive the necessary care before discharge,” she said.
She added that the state was also planning to expand Special Care Baby Units (SCBUs) to improve the management of newborns requiring specialised care.
The two-day meeting concluded with agreed action points, a coordinated roadmap and defined responsibilities for government institutions and development partners, aimed at closing service delivery gaps, improving access to essential commodities and accelerating efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths across Kano State.