By Chukwudi Nwauba :
The Anambra State Government through the State Ministry of Health has partnered with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to educate women against communicable diseases.
“Just as the 2023 August meeting commences across communities in the state we are using this medium to educate our women on the need to be cautious about communicable diseases and as well for them to help educate other women during their August meeting.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Ben Obidike said that the Government is committed to improving healthcare of the state.
Obidike said this during the first ever Anambra Women Health Conference held at Prof. Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre Awka.
He explained that the women’s conference was sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is designed to train the women so that in return they can take the messages of the day down to their respective meeting venues.
The Commissioner said that he strongly believed the event would also help to raise awareness on common diseases that affect women, and how the women in attendance can carry the lessons down to the community levels.
He urged the women to take the issue of their health status seriously noting that good health is more important than any other thing.
According to him, a healthy living is one of the greatest things in which every living-person and the government can invest.
“Good health is life’s most essential and precious element. We never realise its actual value until we lose it.
“I believe ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing for all is important to building prosperous societies and central to building healthy communities and economies. When we are well, it is easier for us to cope with many of the difficulties that we all face.
“First responsibility of taking care of our health rests with ourselves and with our respective families.
“We owe it to ourselves, our families and our communities to take all necessary measures to protect ourselves and others against diseases.
“We can all do this by ensuring that we eat well balanced diets, we sleep and rest well, we look after our surroundings and make sure that things around us are clean, and that we exercise regularly.
“It is a must we ensure children, mothers and families have access to healthcare and other services and are safe from violence in homes, schools, and communities.
“I encourage you all to pay attention to your health and well-being of others.
“Exercise regularly. eat a healthy diet. Limit alcohol consumption. Keep healthy lifestyles and maintain good hygiene and sanitary practices and try to keep a healthy weight.’’
Dr. Obidike commended the wife of the Governor, Dr. Mrs. Nonye Soludo and WHO for their active roles in the healthcare sector of the state.
In a remark, the State Governor’s wife, Dr. Mrs. Nonye Soludo, appealed to women to discuss fundamental issues affecting family and society.
She said that August Meetings should provide important platforms for women to point out peculiar problems that need urgent attention beginning from the ones happening around them.
She called their attention to rising moral deficits in child raising, depreciation of family values, drug abuse among school children, parental neglects and quest for illicit wealth among youths as key problems that August meetings can address.
The governor’s wife also called for higher awareness on proper family planning among couples, adding that an unplanned home is an impending disaster.
She reassured the women that her husband’s administration remains committed to making vital policies that will benefit them, noting that the journey to a better state is a collective one.
One of the guest speakers at the conference, a Professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Prof. Brian Adinma while discussing common issues in reproductive health, explained that 70% of reproductive health problems could be attributed to three factors which could originate from male or female reproductive systems.
He urged pregnant women to always prioritize good antenatal care, use approved maternity homes and skilled birth attendants, and make adequate birth plans beginning from the first day of pregnancy.
In a goodwill message, the representative of WHO in the State, Mr. Ndubuisi Orji, while commending Mrs. Soludo and the State Ministry of Health over the huge success of the programme, also charges the women to be cautious of their health status before, during and after the August meeting.
He said WHO will continue to support the Anambra State Government in ensuring quality healthcare services to the people.
Mr. Orji, noted that WHO was established to improve the health of vulnerable populations and to work to eliminate health disparities in the World.
