The Kano State Ministry of Health and Oral Health Advocacy Initiative (OHAI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cleft lip surgery in the state.
Speaking during the event at the Ministry, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, appreciated the presence of the organization in the state because they did well in improving the quality of lives of some Kano people.
The Commissioner assured the OHAI of Kano state government support to continue with the good job they have been doing, adding that their previous activities in the state have been looked into, and the government has satisfied with them and urged them to carry on as their intervention is needed.
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He pointed out that such humanitarian activities are too enormous for the government alone to handle, stressing that the presence of organizations like theirs that focus on a particular problem and address it would surely go a long way in assisting people and better the health sector of the state.
He hoped that signing of the MoU would further cement the existing relationship between the Kano state government and the OHAI so that more benefits would be driven upon the people in the quest of the state government to transform the healthcare system in its entirety to meet the global outlook.
Earlier speaking, the State Coordinator of the Oral Health Advocacy Initiative, Kpam Peter, said that the organization is an NGO aimed at eradicating the oral and facial diseases in Nigeria and Africa at large.
He revealed that their partnership with the Kano State Ministry of Health started in 2016, through which a good working relationship was established with the Ministry, its agencies and other stakeholders.
Mr. Peter asserted that from 2016 to 2022, OHAI had performed cleft lip surgery on 869 patients across the 44 LGAs in which Bebeji recorded the highest number of 49 people, while Municipal and Gwale were the least with 0 patients, and stressed that efforts have been intensified to remobilize the LGAs with low coverage, thanking the Ministry for the warm reception extended to them.
The signing of the MoU took place in the presence of the Permanent Secretary Alhaji Musa Tanko, Director Medical Services Dr. Shehu Abdullahi Usman and Deputy Director Medical Services Shehu Umar of the Ministry.
Signed
Ibrahim Abdullahi
Information Officer
Ministry of Health
6 February 2024
