Muhammad Garba
Journalists have called on the Federal Government to speed up action for the establishment and completion of the medical Oxygen plants across the 36 states and the FCT for effective management of pneumonia and other related respiratory diseases.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of a two-day media round table Thursday organized by Save the Children International (SCI) for Jigawa and Lagos media working groups under the INSPIRING project held at R&K hotel, Kano.
The meeting was attended by officials from the Federal Ministry of Health, representatives from the Jigawa and Lagos Ministries of Health, representatives from the Pediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN), and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs).
The communiqué commended the effort for the establishment of the plants and described it as a welcome development in tackling the high rate of child mortality in the country.
According to the communiqué, “the enlightenment tempo in raising awareness on pneumonia prevention and control should be sustained by the Media Working Groups”.
The communiqué further expressed the need for encouragement for health-seeking behaviors among mothers and caregivers towards reducing Pneumonia.
“Statistics should be made available to the media by Government, and health professionals to enhance their reportage on Pneumonia.”
The Media working groups however promised to redouble their efforts in promoting health information at all ramifications for supply and accessing effective public healthcare services.
