By Adeyinka Adeniran
Lagos State has officially flagged off the 2026 first round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week at the Oshodi/Isolo LGA Secretariat, with strong commendations for the state government’s sustained commitment to child health.
Speaking at the event on Monday, July 20, 2026, Celine Lafoucriere, Chief of Office for UNICEF Lagos, lauded the Wife of the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, for her consistent leadership and dedication to ensuring resources are released and health workers reach communities across the years.
Lafoucriere highlighted that Lagos is home to approximately three million children under the age of five whose rapid development requires immediate and continuous care.
During the week-long campaign, health workers will fan out across communities to administer Vitamin A supplements to protect children’s sight and boost immunity, provide deworming tablets to combat nutrient loss from parasites, and weigh and screen babies for early detection of malnutrition.
Additionally, pregnant women will receive essential micronutrient supplements designed to safeguard the health of both mother and child throughout pregnancy.
UNICEF has contributed by providing Vitamin A and micronutrient supplies, supporting community awareness campaigns, and deploying teams into the field to verify that the target children are successfully reached.
Emphasizing the vital role of domestic funding, Lafoucriere recalled that Lagos state released N156 million last year through the Child Nutrition Match Fund, which directly purchased commodities for children and expanded the reach of the initiative.
Looking ahead, UNICEF outlined two crucial priorities following the launch: ensuring the second round of the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week is conducted before the end of November 2026 to catch any children missed during the current drive, and procuring deworming tablets for children aged 12 to 59 months in sufficient quantities to achieve full state-wide coverage without running the campaign at half strength.
Reaffirming their ongoing commitment, UNICEF assured that it will remain a steadfast partner for this round, the next, and the continuous work required in between.
