Alive & Thrive engages media, seeks promotion of MMS for Pregnant women

By Samuel Luka, Bauchi

A Non-governmental Organization known as Alive & Thrive has hold an engagement meeting with media practitioners in Bauchi state on the need to create awareness in their various platforms about the importance of making Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) available for pregnant women.

Senior Behavioral Change Communication Technical Adviser for Family Health International (FHI) 360 Alive & Thrive Project, Dr. Auwalu Kawu while speaking, said the meeting was aimed at ensuring that media is adequately engaged to work as co-partners in national campaign for promoting MMS.

“This is a very well planned media engagement and interaction we have started across the states where FHI 360 is supporting together with other partners to dialogue around MMS to be available to pregnant women”, he said.

According to him, the federal government is committed in collaboration with the states to address malnutrition among Pregnant women.

“The only way to do that is to promote their nutritional status in such a way that will minimize maternal mortality during pregnancy”, he said.

Dr. Kawu who noted that the federal government recently approved that MMS be provided across government health facilities to compliment Iron and folic acid that used to be available for pregnant women during antenatal, said iron and folic acid addresses critical point of anemia for pregnant women.

He however, explained that, having realized the limitation of iron and folic acid in addressing malnutrition among Pregnant women, government decided to include multiple micronutrients.

“One is not replacing the other, but they are complimenting the gap. MMS has fifteen nutrients which a pregnant woman needs, very essential, very important to minimize pregnancy complications and to have a healthy childbirth and also a healthy child”, he pointed out.

Dr. Kawu who further noted that the MMS is expected to be available in all Public health facilities supported by the government, especially at the primary health care level, said that the distribution of the MMS has just started.

Dr. Auwalu Kawu who explained that the MMS is not yet everywhere, stressed that the media interaction was meant to initiate the process of awareness creation and increasing the knowledge of both the pregnant women, their husbands and other family members.

He added that the meeting is also meant to seek the support of the media to draw the attention of the government in terms of policies to make sure that the MMS is made available in all the health facilities.

“It’s going to be given free to all pregnant women who attain ANC. They are familiar with Iron and Folic acid and they will be counseled on how to take it throughout the period of pregnancy, with time it will be available in all the primary health centres”, he stated.

Dr. Kawu said that the project is supporting what Alive & Thrive call a “center of excellence” in Bauchi, where some clinics have been identified as “center of excellence” that will be a model of the services of MMS to pregnant women.

“But for now, the distribution is going on and we hope that by the end of the year almost all facilities will have the MMS available”, he assured.

He said that the government has approved MMS as an essential consumable among the drug lists for pregnant women to help them live healthy with their pregnancy.

He enjoined the media to encourage and influence the governments at the local level to make budgetary allocation make MMS available in their facilities.

He called on women to always ensure that they attain antenatal care (ANC) as soon as possible, which he observed, provides pregnant women with very important avenue to monitor their pregnancy and to take MMS based on the examination of their conditions at the health facility.

Speaking at the end of the workshop, a participant and Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bauchi state Council, Comrade Umar Sa’idu promised to use the knowledge acquired to influence behavioral change among Pregnant women and also influence government commitment towards making MMS available for pregnant women in Bauchi state and beyond.

On her part, the Executive Director, Journalists for Public Health and Development (J4PD), Elizabeth Kar, described the workshop as timely, promising to mobilize her members to promote MMS and other health related issues for a healthy society.