By Our Reporter
The Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF) has commenced the implementation of its nutrition flagship program, tagged: Aliko Dangote Foundation Integrated Nutrition (ADFIN) program in Kano State.
According to the ADF’s Director of Health and Nutrition, Dr. Francis Aminu, the program is in line with the plan to use the newly refurbished Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) across 5 pilot LGAs as Outpatient Care (OPC) and Inpatient Care (IPC) component of the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) services for the Programme.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 30 health workers have been trained in Kano.
Dr. Aminu said the 5- day training program was held between 17th and 22nd December 2021.
“The purpose of the training was to equip the health workers with the requisite skills on how to assess, treat and care for malnourished children under the age of five. The 5-day training enabled participants to gain in-depth knowledge in line with the training requirements as stated in the National Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition Guidelines,” he said.
He said the participants were drawn from the State Ministry of Health and the five ADFIN supported sites from Bebeji, Dala, Kura, Tudun Wada, and Rimin-Gado LGAs comprising Officers-in-Charge (OICs), Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs), Nutrition focal persons, Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Coordinators, and Primary Health Care (PHC) Coordinators.
At the opening ceremony of the training, key development partners in Kano state participated and expressed their goodwill messages to ADF on the IMAM training.
Participants include the representatives of Nutrition International (NI), Partners for Development (PfD), Civil Society for Scaling up Nutrition (CSSUN) Kano, and Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN), among others.
The training was declared open by the Commissioner of Health, Kano State, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Kano State Ministry of Health, Hajiya Amina A Musa.
In his closing remarks, the Commissioner commended the dynamic leadership of the PHC Coordinators in staying with their health workers throughout the training.
He further commended the Foundation for its contribution to human capital development in Nigeria, and Africa at large, while expressing his profound appreciation for the numerous contributions made by Alhaji Aliko Dangote to Kano State.