The Dangote Foundation has contributed $500,000, or N79.15 million, through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to support the government’s response to the recent measles outbreak that affected many states in Nigeria.
The donation was announced at the weekend in Lagos during a visit to the office of the President of Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote, by a delegation of the UNICEF, led by the Country Representative, Ms. Jean Gough.
Gough lauded Dangote Foundation, saying: “The grant is a major contribution to government’s fight against measles which is among the leading causes of child deaths in Nigeria, especially in areas where immunization coverage is low. As we are aware, the trend of measles follows a seasonal pattern with periods of high transmission (January to June with peaks in March) and low transmission (July to December).”
The UNICEF Representative commended the Foundation and Aliko Dangote for the exemplary leadership being provided in Nigeria’s effort to tackle vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and polio as well as improving primary health care services.
In this year’s measles outbreak, a total of 16,809 suspected measles cases have so far been reported across 614 local government areas in Nigeria. In collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO), and other partners, UNICEF has provided support to government with resource mobilization as well as in the provision of technical support.
The grant from Dangote Foundation, Gough pointed out, will support the measles campaign the federal government, through its Ministry of Health and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).
The grant is specifically for the procurement of 1.7 million doses of measles vaccine.
Follow GistaNigeria on Twitter @GistaNigeria and Facebook GistaNigeria
Jokes & Humour | Free Forex Signals | Infotech Arena Tech News |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Add A Comment