One of the nation’s leading telecoms operator, Airtel Nigeria, has been applauded by stakeholders of the Pampaida Millennium Villages project in Kaduna for its contribution towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The stakeholders particularly lauded Airtel’s mobile-health service, an intervention that has significantly reduced the mortality and morbidity rate of infants and mothers in several villages in Kaduna State.
Health workers in the communities, residents and other beneficiaries, while expressing their gratitude, urged the GSM service provider not to relent in its genuine commitment at improving the quality of life of Nigerians as demonstrated by the smooth operations of the M-health service.
The M-health initiative sees Airtel providing critical telecommunications Infrastructure, including a 3G mast, smartphones, toll free lines and Closed User Group (CUG) services for health workers in the villages.
According to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, the company is providing communications solutions that will help to improve the quality of life of people in one of the remotest parts of Nigeria.
His words, “the communication solutions that have been deployed will enable the people of Pampaida to make calls, access health services and education and improve their economic status.
“We are creating enormous opportunities for these communities and we expect the impact of this project to outlive our generation. At Airtel Nigeria, we are convinced that the attendant benefits and potential of this project will fast-track transformation of the lives of many of the residents of Pampaida from their current status,” he said.
Team Leader and Operations Manager, Pampaida MVP, Bala Yunusa, stated that the role played by Airtel Nigeria is vital and indispensable when it comes to achieving the key goals of the Millennium Villages Project.
Yunusa, who was speaking in an interview during an assessment tour by Airtel Nigeria to the MVP in Kaduna said: “After conducting a rapid diagnostic test, the Village Health Workers are able to capture and send real-time information on their mobile phones to a server which provides automatic response and guidance for the health workers on the field.
“The mobile data provided by Airtel is used to send required details to the remote server, while the CUG allows smooth communication among the team of health workers. This is made possible by our partner Airtel Nigeria in collaboration with Ericsson.”
Also speaking, the Coordinator, MVP, Dr. Clement Woje, who highlighted some of the achievements recorded by the health project, said it has resulted in increased access and utilization of health care services, decreased malaria prevalence rate and influenced a general decline in child and maternal mortality.
Reaffirming Dr. Woje’s postulation, a Health Facilitator under the project, Ojo Adedotun said the project records a monthly average of 30 to 40 child deliveries out of which 10 to 15 are home deliveries while the remaining occur in the clinic. He stressed that the M-health service supported by Airtel Nigeria plays significant roles in the success of these deliveries.
The Pampaida Millennium Village Project in Kaduna is among the two Millennium Villages inaugurated by the Federal Government in May 2006 in line with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. It is a science-based bottom-up approach to lifting rural villages out of the poverty trap that afflicts more than a billion people worldwide.
The community-driven initiative currently operates in 11 sub-Saharan African countries where it tackles challenges relating to health, education, nutrition, livelihoods, gender equality and other vital issues.
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