By GARBA MUHAMMAD

The push to improve the health of women and children in Kaduna took centre stage on Tuesday as stakeholders rallied behind a call for the integration of High Impact Practices (HIPs) into state health programmes.

The call was led by the Kaduna Maternal Accountability Mechanism (KADMAM) during a one-day advocacy meeting at the State Primary Health Care Board (SPHCB) Conference Hall, Magajin Gari.

KADMAM Co-Chair, Garba Muhammad, acknowledged progress under Governor Uba Sani?s administration, citing the Mental Health Law and the ongoing Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) enrolment drive as evidence of political commitment. Yet, he warned that preventable maternal and child deaths persist due to shortages of health workers, weak facilities, and poor access to family planning commodities.

?The real work lies in implementation, funding, and scale-up,? Muhammad stressed. ?We must move beyond acknowledging evidence-based interventions on paper to ensuring they are funded, implemented, and monitored effectively.?

Echoing the concerns, Hassana Muhammad Kudan, who represented a Deputy Director at the Primary Health Care Agency, highlighted chronic underfunding, weak supervision and limited capacity among healthcare workers as barriers to progress. She underscored the need for stronger enforcement of policies to guarantee access to family planning services.

The dialogue drew participants from the Ministry of Health, budget and planning departments, civil society, development partners, and the media. It ended with a shared commitment to greater accountability, resource mobilisation and impact at the community level.

For many at the meeting, the message was clear: saving the lives of women and children in Kaduna will require more than policies on paper ? it will demand action on the ground.

Advocacy Next Steps

Participants agreed on the following priorities to advance HIPs integration in Kaduna State:

Call for increased government support to recruit and train health care personnel for the implementation of HIPs priority areas.

Advocate for increased budget allocations and effective implementation for Family Planning (FP) and MNCH+N.

Strengthen the implementation of HIPs services and community linkages.

Advocate for enforcement of the existing policy on Task-Shifting and Task-Sharing (TSTS).

Advocate for training and re-training of supervisors for supportive supervision and mentoring across all facilities.

Advocate for proper data documentation and monitoring systems on all HIPs priority areas across facilities.

Advocate for the availability of emergency kits in all facilities.

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