First Lady launches MDGs Village Health Workers Scheme

The First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, has launched the Village Health Workers Scheme to boost the efforts being made to attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in rural communities in the country.
In her address during the official launch of the scheme yesterday in Abuja, the First Lady, who lauded the efforts of the Senior Special Adviser to the President on MDGs, Dr Precious Gbeneol, in ensuring the attainment MDGs, said the scheme was designed to intensify development efforts in the rural communities.
“I am happy to note that the Office of the Senior Special Adviser to the President on MDGs is taking necessary steps to key these goals into the transformation Agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, “she said.
She urged the village health workers to mobilise the rural people and ensure that they make better use of the facilities provided by government and donor agencies
Senior Special Adviser to the President on MDGs, in her speech, said her office was saddled with the responsibility of coordinating the deployment of the Debt Relief Gains (DRGS) in order to accelerate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Nigeria.
“The Office implements high impact interventions such as the Conditional Grants Scheme which aims to improve the lives of the poor and vulnerable. The Scheme was initiated with the objective of building a solid foundation for effective service delivery to communities that are in dire need of critical infrastructure vital for individual and community development,” she said.
She highlighted some of the successes of the Conditional Grants Scheme saying that “in 2011 and 2012, a total sum of N26.1billion was invested in 261 local government areas with the execution of more than 15,000 high impact MDGs-related projects across the country in the education, income generation, agriculture, health, and water and sanitation sectors.
Governors Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta state, Saidu Dakingari of Kebbi state and Idris Wada of Kogi state, respectively, spoke on the need to use the scheme to empower the rural people and pledged their support.