Country Director of Christian Aid UK-Nigeria, Charles Usie, yesterday said the organisation has expended N2.6 billion in the past two years for treatment of malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea on children under five years, in rural communities across seven states of Nigeria.
Mr. Usie disclosed this during an experience sharing symposium on integrated community case management of the partnership for improved child health project, held in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.
He said the organisation has treated and saved the lives of over 110,000 children in four local government areas since the inception of the programme in the state.
He noted that the programme was aimed at bringing health care delivery closer to the people living at the hard-to- reach areas in those communities.
According to him, the 75- year-old organisation was out to empower poor and marginalised people to make informed decisions about their lives and engage meaningfully in their own development.
He said the organisation was out to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich noting that health was the only sure way to eradicate poverty amongst rural communities.
The country director, appealed to the state government to properly identify health related gaps and other issues that would enable development partners know the areas to intervene, noting that the organisation has earmarked N100 million for people displaced by flooding in the state to enable them go back to their various places of abode.
Speaking, Benue state Deputy Governor, Engr. Benson Abounu, decried high level of infant mortality in the state, especially among under five year old children and called for strong collaboration between the local governments and the development partners for the sustainability of the programme.
