The wife of Ondo State governor, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu has called on all Agencies, Government Parastatals and NGOs in the health sector in Ondo State to deliver better health care so that every citizen of the state irrespective of status enjoys good health.
She made this call at the maiden meeting of members of the Ondo State Committee on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent, Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) convened by Her Excellency at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Alagbaka, Akure.
At the maiden meeting, held with members of the Ondo State Committee on Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent, Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, Alagbaka Akure, the wife of the Ondo State Governor has called on all stakeholders as a matter of urgency to look into prevalent issues in the area of health.
The meeting was held with members of Ministry of Health, Primary Health Care Development Board, Ministry of Women Affairs, NGOs and relevant Agencies in the state as steps in fulfilling her commitment made to the wife of the President, Aisha Mohammadu Buhari, to bring to an end maternal mortality, newborn and child mortality, prevent adolescent death and promote good health and nutrition.
During the meeting, Arabinrin Akeredolu spoke about the importance of valid and accurate data, especially in the state level as key in identifying the challenges in the health sector and an important component in the state to develop its own framework for development.
She further identified the need to generate health related information and as well increase advocacy in order to push the message to the grassroots.
“We need to take giant step to do this work. Let us focus on Ondo State. We need advocacy in order to get the information across to our people so that we can have a framework on how to push out information to the grassroots. I am hoping that at the end of this, we can have a paradigm shift so that our people can participate and then sustain it.
“Community engagement should be part of what you will do because women are natural health givers”, she stressed while calling for collaboration with different agencies, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and emphasizing the importance of increasing the capacity of health workers.
Some other committee members who participated in the deliberations include the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Women Affairs, Mrs. Titilayo Adeyemi, the Executive Secretary, Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Francis Akanbiemu, members of the Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu Foundation (BAAF), cabinet members of the Office of the First Lady among others.
It would be recalled that Mrs. Akeredolu was among the eminent Nigerians who attended a stakeholders meeting convened by the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari centered RMNCAH+N in order to improve health in Nigeria where she signed commitment to be a part of the champions and advocates for RMNCAH+N in her state.