No fewer than thirty six journalists drawn from Adamawa and Taraba States have pledged to sustain reportage on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) issues.
The training was organized by Maigodiya center for youth development with support from Palladium SCALE project.
The journalists while presenting their commitments at the end of a two day training for media partners on reporting MNCH issues noted that the challenges bedevilling the MNCH sector are enormous and deserve their utmost attention.
In his presentation, Yusuf Buba noted that the training has provided the journalists with insights on some of the major challenges bedevilling the all important sector calling on the organizers to sustain the training on quarterly basis.
In his opening remarks, Aliyu Tukur from Maigodiya center for youth development said considering the high maternal mortality rate of over 500 women per 100,000 births, partnership with the media has become incumbent in view of the power of the pen.
He noted that the objective of the training is to strengthen the capacity of the media actors to effectively bring MNCH issues to the front burner.
Tukur said through the robust partnership it is expected that Maternal Mortality Indices in Adamawa and Taraba States will be brought to the bearest minimum as a result of increase in budgetary allocation in line with Abuja declaration of 15%.
He noted that it is also expected that there will be improvement in budget performance to ensure availability of life-saving commodities 24/7 at our health facilities and to institutionalize Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response in all our secondary health facilities in both states.
