Onwuka Nzeshi
24 June 2008
Abuja — The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has obtained a grant of N940 million ($8 million) in support of child survival programmes in Nigeria.
This is in a bid to save the Nigerian child from avoidable childhood diseases and death. The contribution, which came courtesy of the Japanese government is to be directed towards polio eradication, malaria prevention and routine immunisation.
The donation is coming on the heels of a resolution by Nigeria and her neighbour, Republic of Niger to collaborate in the task of eradicating polio completely from both countries.
Under the new pact, both countries are expected to set up task forces to work within their respective territories and a joint technical committee to oversee the entire project.
Available statistics indicate that one out of every five Nigerian children will die before their fifth birthday, with malaria alone being responsible for one quarter of these deaths.
Also vaccine preventable diseases such as measles, tetanus and diphtheria claim the lives of many children under the age of five. Nigeria also remains one of the only four countries in the world that has not yet interrupted indigenous wild polio virus transmission, and accounts for 92 per cent of the cases in Africa currently.
UNICEF Country Representative in Nigeria Dr. Robert Limlim, at a ceremony to seal the humanitarian deal, said the donation was demonstration of the renewed commitment of the Japanese government to child survival in Nigeria.
The gesture, Limlim said, came at an appropriate time given the current resurgence of wild polio virus in Nigeria and the fight to interrupt its transmission this year.
He said the grant will also boost Nigeria's efforts towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
In specific terms, the grant will be used for the procurement of polio vaccines, child survival supplies such as Oral Rehydration Sachets, deworming tablets for children aged 1 to 5 years and also drugs for malaria prevention in pregnant women.
In addition, 159,300 Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN) will be procured for malaria control. This will complement the 521,500 nets already procured in the last two years with funding from the Government of Japan.
These nets are expected to be distributed to the most deprived and hard to reach families in communities, as well as pregnant women attending ante-natal care and children who will have completed their scheduled vaccinations as an incentive to boost immunisation.
Since 2000, Japan has contributed about N5 billion ($44.24 million) for the prevention of infectious diseases in Nigeria through UNICEF/Federal Government of Nigeria Programme of Cooperation.
The Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Toshitsugu Uesawa, expressed hope that this project will enhance the welfare of Nigerian children and boost bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Japan.
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