28th October, 2016
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has provided free medical services to three million persons affected by Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.
Mr Mustapha Abbator, the Permanent Secretary, Borno Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, confirmed this during a courtesy call led by the UNFPA Regional Director, Mrs Bithrice Mutali, on Gov. Kashim Shettima, on Friday in Maiduguri.
Abbator, who is also the UNFPA support partner, said the agency also provided safe delivery services, management of survivors of sexual violence, treatment of STIs, family planning and community sensitisation on reproductive health issues.
“Fifty-five doctors, midwives and nurses were trained non-active Reversible Contraceptive Management, 174 health workers and programme managers have been trained on minimal humanitarian health and reproductive health in humanitarian settings.
“129 reproductive health kits comprising 1,413 cartons of assorted family planning commodities have been provided to priority health facilities in Borno state.
“Creating access to 32,800 clinical deliveries in various communities and sensitisation has been conducted non-key live saving sexual commodities, and United Nation has contributed on health sector coordination especially around sexual and reproductive health.
“3,600 dignity kits, which include clothing, were provided to rural women especially young girls to restore their dignity; also 72 healthcare workers were trained on clinical management operation.
“216 selected community health and social workers also were trained on psychosocial support and deployed to liberated areas to provide support to gender violence victims.
“In addition, 7,297 rescued victims of violence mostly women among IDPs were also given gender violence psychosocial counselling as well as skill and acquisition training.
“Various community sensitization was conducted addressing key relevant issues which include gender-based preventing and life-saving counselling to the IDPs,” said Abbator.
Also speaking, Mutali, who also doubles as the Country Representative of the UNFPA, pledged to sustain its support to the government of Nigeria to restore normalcy and security to the North East.
Mutali said that the UNFPA was working with other partners to give maximum support to victims of the insurgency especially in the area of safe reproduction.
She lamented that the high rate of maternal childbirth mortality was high in Nigeria.
“Humanitarian maternal and child health was high in Nigeria than other sub-Saharan African countries.
“From the data that we have in every 575,000 cases of birth about 100,000 children die in childbirth,’’ Mutali said.
Responding, Shettima commended UNFPA for their support for the victims of Boko Haram insurgency.