Health
THE Centre for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) and the Ummulkhairi Foundation has intensified its campaign on child spacing and maternal healthcare by taking its advocacy to mosques and churches across Kaduna State.
The initiative is being implemented by CCSI in partnership with the Ummulkhairi Foundation under the Faith and Cultural Champions (FCC) project.
It is aimed at promoting healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies, encouraging expectant mothers to access antenatal care and discouraging home deliveries.
In a statement issued on Friday in Kaduna, it said as part of the campaign, the foundation held sensitisation activities at the Central Mosque, Gwargwage, where the sermon was delivered by Sheikh Abbas Khalifa Zaria.
Zaria urged husbands to support their wives in accessing healthcare services, particularly by allowing them to attend antenatal clinics and ensuring that they deliver their babies at recognised healthcare facilities.
He said the involvement and support of husbands were critical to reducing preventable maternal and child deaths, stressing that families should not wait until complications arise before seeking medical attention.
The cleric also cautioned members of the congregation against neglecting common illnesses, noting that many people were losing their lives to ailments such as malaria and typhoid fever which, he said, could be prevented or effectively treated when medical care was sought promptly.
He encouraged couples to embrace responsible family planning and child spacing in line with Islamic teachings, stressing the importance of protecting the health and wellbeing of mothers and children.
The campaign also extended to ECWA Church, Bakin Kogi, Kaninkon, Kafanchan, where the sensitisation message was delivered by Polycap Galadima.
Galadima similarly emphasised the need for families to prioritise the health of women and children, urging couples to make informed decisions about pregnancy and seek professional medical advice.
He said religious institutions had an important role to play in educating their congregations on issues affecting family health, particularly maternal and child wellbeing.
Speaking during the programme, the Founder of Ummulkhairi Foundation, Hajiya Maryam Sani, said the foundation was taking the child-spacing message directly to communities because religious and traditional institutions remained influential platforms for reaching families.
She said the campaign was designed to promote healthier families by encouraging couples to understand the benefits of adequately spacing pregnancies and making use of available healthcare services.
According to her, the foundation believes that improving maternal and child health requires collaboration among religious leaders, healthcare workers, communities and families.
She urged religious leaders to continue supporting messages that encourage women to attend antenatal clinics, deliver in healthcare facilities and seek appropriate medical attention whenever the need arises.
Sani also called on husbands and other family members to provide women with the necessary support to access healthcare services, saying such support could make a significant difference in preventing avoidable complications and deaths.
She stressed that child spacing was not merely a health issue but an important component of building healthier and stronger families and communities.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the campaign is part of the project’s broader advocacy efforts to promote maternal, newborn and child health and encourage communities to adopt practices that can improve health outcomes for women and children. (NAN)
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