Mother and Child Health Week will be observe from 15th to 21st November

Lahore: Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab Khawaja Salman Rafiq has said that government is taking concrete steps to reduce maternal mortality rate under Millennium Development Goal-4 (MDG) and to solve the mother and child health related problems for which Mother and Child Health Week is being celebrated across the province from 15th to 21st November whereas this week will be celebrated in Lahore from 19th to 24th November.

He was addressing a press conference at a local hotel to apprise the media-men regarding the week. He said that after successful control over dengue the next target of the government is to improve Routine Immunization Programme and to minimize mortality rate in new born babies and pregnant women. Khawaja Salman Rafiq said that community should come forward to help and create awareness among the masses as it did against dengue.

Provincial Coordinator of National Programme for Family Planning and Primary Health Dr. Akhtar Rashid Malik apprised the media persons that during the mother and child health week 49 thousand lady health workers and five thousand other community workers would participate. Moreover, lady health workers will visit rural as well as suburban areas of the cities and will convey door to door health message to the household women. He further informed that anti worm tablets will be distributed among seven million children of two to five years of age. Lady health workers will personally give these tables to the children to ensure proper growth of the children. Similarly, six lakh missing children would be administered preventive injections who remained deprived due to some reasons. Dr. Akhtar Rashid further said that the theme of the week is “prevention against pneumonia” and the injections of newly introduced pneumococcal vaccine by the Punjab government in EPI programme would also be administered to newly born children. He informed that the main causes of childhood mortality is diarrhea and lady health workers would visit door to door to apprise the families about the benefits of hand washing and formulation of ORS. He informed that during the week one million pregnant women would be given TT-I and TT-II doses. They will be sensitized about the importance of balanced diet and folic acid tablets also be distributed among the pregnant women. He said that flood-hit districts of DG Khan and Rajanpur have been specially focused and special mosquito nets and folic acid tablets will also be provided to the women whereas specially energy biscuits will be distributed among the children. He said that only hand washing habit can prevent from a number of diseases.