Yobe State has commenced its 2026 Maternal Newborn Child Health Week, with adolescent girls and government officials gathering at the Mesandari Primary Health Care Centre in Damaturu, the state capital, for the start of the exercise.
The programme this year has included vaccination against human papillomavirus as part of its interventions targeting young people in the state.
According to the organisers, free interventions will be carried out in 356 health facilities across the 17 local government areas of the state during the week.
Specialists from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund expressed a willingness to continue supporting the state government, describing the Health Week as an opportunity to cater to the nutrition needs of children, which they said is the foundation for child survival.
UNICEF highlighted the importance of nutrition as a foundation for child survival and development, noting that encouraging progress has been observed, with the global acute malnutrition rate declining from 12.1 percent in 2024 to 10.1 percent in 2025.
The agency, however, stressed the need to accelerate efforts to reach acceptable thresholds, encouraging continued investment in the community-based management of acute malnutrition, improved infant and young child feeding practices, and the strengthening of routine immunization.
It also called for improved access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, as well as community-level screening and early referral systems, as part of the broader push to safeguard the health of mothers and children in the state.