Deploy new approach in maternal information delivery for child survival – Professor Pate charges journalists

Professor Umar Pate

By Akanji Alowoludo, Gombe

Journalists in Nigeria have been urged to deploy new approaches in disseminating informations that are capable of changing the behavior of people towards child health positively.

The call was made by the Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Kashere in Gombe State, Professor Umar Pate while speaking at a Media Dialogue organized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on First 1000 Days of a Child’s Life, held at Emerald Hotel Gombe, Gombe state on Tuesday.

According to him, the media has a great responsibility in helping to improve the quality of child and maternal health in the country, adding that, statistics regarding child health are quite worrying and deplorable.

Prof Umaru Ali Pate also said that ensuring Child’s life is a collective responsibility not only for the media but for all reminding the Media of its responsibility to influence government policies at the local, state and the federal levels.

The university Don further explained that through media influence, policy makers would be touched to create conducive environment, provide functional facilities, dedicated personnel that are ready to work.

He added that the media can influence the government to make provisions that can help to sustain public lives that individuals and communities cannot be able to do due to the level of poverty in the society.

According to him, “So, government has the responsibility to do that by coming up with policies. There is the need to focus on preventive aspect of medicine.” 

Prof. Umaru Pate further said that, “the duty of the media should be, to change the behavior of our people for them to develop positive attitude towards healthy practices, towards issues that can promote good health, ensure the safety of children as well as protect the lives of our mothers”.

He further averred that without attitudinal changes, children will easily become diseased thereby, proving difficult to treat them.

He stressed that, “The clinics themselves would be overwhelmed, so we have to invest in preventive aspect of medicine, equip the people with the right information and the skill of how to live healthy, eat healthy, how they can maintain healthy environment”.

The Vice Chancellor also said that by doing so, the cost of equipping hospitals, the speed, the length as well as the volume of going to hospitals would reduced which will enable the government to focus on funding other serious issues.