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The Kogi Government on Thursday commenced the distribution of 24,000 Chlorhxidine-gel for care of umbilical cord in 120 public health facilities across the 21 local government areas of the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Audu, said at the flag-off ceremony in Lokoja that the governor in his magnanimity had made free donations of the gel to all public health facilities in the state for cord care and prevention of newborn infections.
He warned that the commodity should not be sold to patients under any circumstance, but be given to all mothers that delivered in the hospitals free of charge.
“Since the inception of the New Direction Administration led by His Excellency Alhaji Yahaya Bello, health sector has been a thematic area of priority and we are committed to reducing infant mortality to less than 10 per 1,000 live births by 2019.
“I must categorically state that Chlorhexidine gel is the adopted antiseptic for cord care in Kogi State in compliance with the Federal Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation (WHO) directive.
“We will be rolling out other Health intervention programmes in the state aimed at reducing maternal newborn and child mortality,” Audu said.
Earlier, Dr Gabriel Alobo, the State Coordinator of Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP), USAID, described the gel as an antiseptic sort of chemical that has been proven to disinfect and reduce bacteria burden.
He added that studies had shown that when a woman delivered and one applied the gel to the umbilical cord, the rate of infection is reduced by over 53 per cent.
“We thank the governor and the state ministry of health for doing a great job, because the chlorhxidine uptake in the state has increased from about 25 to 68 per cent in just 15 months of this administration,” Alobo said.
Dr Omale Wada, the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Kogi State Hospital Management Board, warned health officers against charging any fee and the beneficiaries not to be tempted to pay any money.
“Government is giving them free to patients; if we receive any report that any officer is selling the drug, such officer will be thrown out of service.
“Our expectation is that the incidence of umbilical cord infection will be reduced drastically with the use of this very potent gel, effective more than the previous ones,” Wada said.
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