Aliko Dangote Foundation, in collaboration with Kano State government, United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding on routine immunisation (RI) in the state.
The MoU was first signed in 2012, when Aliko Dangote Foundation, Kano State Government and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation decided to work towards the improvement of health of women and children in Kano.
After appraising the success of the first MoU, the three parties also signed a second addendum in 2017 in a bid to improve on the goal earlier achieved.
However, the third Health MoU signing, this time around, has witnessed the involvement of UNICEF as the fourth participating party in the agreement.
Shortly before the official signing of the MoU on Wednesday, at the Kano State Government House, the managing director and chief executive officer of Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Yousefou, congratulated the Kano 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 noted that while the parties have made a lot of progress together, they remain far from achieving the target on 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-suited strategies that ensure 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 wards in their LGA.
“We 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 utilize essential health services, including immunization, nutrition and maternal and reproductive health services.
The MD/CEO applauded the efforts of the Kano State government and encouraged the administration to continue to improve its performance by ensuring timely release of funds for both RI and PHC activities.
She restates the commitment of the Aliko Dangote Foundation in supporting Kano in ensuring all residents live long and healthy life.
In his remarks, the governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said the state had achieved significant milestones in healthcare services to the citizenry.
According to him, his administration had not rested on its oars on repositioning the health sector in the state, through improvement of primary and secondary health facilities, as well as provision of qualified personnel to manage them.
Ganduje noted that signing of the health MoU addendum 111 is the testimony to the commitment of the state towards improvement of healthcare services.
He promised the state’s readiness towards donating its counterpart funds to achieve the success of the programme.
Earlier, the country director, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Jeremie Zoungrana, expressed delight to witness the signing of the MoU.
He said the event was the perfect opportunity to implement new and advanced programmes in the area of RI, noting that Kano State had the potential to do better in that regard.
