First time in Tanzania: commemoration of World Prematurity Day

It is not every day there is a special Ministerial visit to a gathering of journalists. Or let me put it this way; Ministers are very busy during Parliament season in Dodoma. So busy that to get even a 15 minute audience with them is almost impossible.The exception to the above happened on November 15, 2014 in Dodoma at a Mama Ye! Champions’ top-up training, when the Minister of Health and Social Welfare Dr. Seif Rashid popped in to give a word of support  to MNH champion journalists and ended up spending over an hour with them.L-R: Craig Ferla of Mama Ye! Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Seif Rashid, Kenneth Simbaya, UTPC President, Aboubakar Karsan, Executive Director of UTPCTwenty-seven members of the Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC representing all regions of our vast country were the catalyst for the minister’s visit, who took time out of his busy schedule to come to learn about their work and using the opportunity to enlighten them on current affairs in his ministry, as well as offering them support and appreciation.The top-up training was organised jointly by UTPC and Mama Ye!  as part of a series of activities to mark, for the first time in Tanzania, the World Prematurity Day, November 17, 2014.Mama Ye! Champions listening to Dr. Moke Magoma of Mama Ye! at a top-up training in Dodoma recentlyThe vividly excited minister hailed UTPC and Mama Ye! for their decision to collaboratively train and support journalist so as to enable them to contribute effectively to address maternal, newborn and child health issues in Tanzania.“You are doing a commendable job, which is in line with the government commitment to reduce maternal, newborns and child deaths. Your support in this endeavour as members of the press is critical, especially when it comes to enlightening the populace and improving accountability,” the minister told the champions, pledging a continued support to them    “I am happy to be among you because I have come to learn about your unique organisation (UTPC) which has a huge potential to transform our communities,” added Dr. Seif  RashidOutstandingly the UTPC journalists in attendance had received special training on covering stories on Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) and have been consistently reporting both in  UTPC’s newspaper, Tuwasiliane and in community and mainstream media.UTPC President Kenneth Simbaya hands copies of Tuwasiliane newspaper to the Minister of Health and Social Welfare Dr Seif RashidAmong other things the Minister took the chance to clarify issues around a topical issue in the country to this audience of acute shortage and medicine stock outs in government facilities –which are 60% of all health facilities nationwide.“We should bear in mind that Medical Stores Department (MSD), is not the only source of medicines for our facilities; we have grants for selected diseases and illnesses, but again, facilities can use their own revenues to restock medical supplies as they await MSD allocations,” the minister elaborated.That said, the tone of our two-day training  had changed for the better.“It was a great honour for the minister to spare some time for our MNH champions. It is a huge recognition for their commitment for the cause and of course their effort to ensure they live to be the ‘bridge’ they are meant to be, for the wellbeing of our community,” says  Abubakar Karsan, UTPC Executive Director.In deep appreciation the champions almost could not contain their excitement as they looked for opportunity to greet, chat and take photos with the minister. See photos of this  on our Facebook page. The visit paved a way to even bigger participation of the government in another activity organised by Mama Ye! to mark World Prematurity Day, the following Monday. (See pictures). On November 17 Mama Ye! in collaboration with The Ministry of Health, Jhpiego, Save the Children, Tanzania Midwifery Association, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Evidence for Action/Mama Ye, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and UNFPA organized an advocacy event targeting parliamentarians.The event which was hosted by The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Social Services apart from messages delivered by various speakers including The Deputy Speaker Job Ndugai, Margreth Sitta host committee chairperson, Deputy Minister of Health and Social Welfare Kebwe Stephen Kebwe and other committee chairpersons was coloured by candle lighting  to honouring, rembember and give a voice  to  Tanzania’s newborns survival, particularly preterm babies.   The message behind the numbers regarding prematurity in Tanzania is staggering. More than 210,000 babies are born too soon in Tanzania every year--which means 1 in every 9 live births is a preterm baby, requiring simple but effective interventions. Read here for actions that can be taken by various groups to increase their survival chances.Mama Ye! has also prepared special factsheets and infographics for the World Prematurity Day 2014. Click links below to readMama Ye Facts and Figures on Preterm Births: World Prematurity Day 2014Mama Ye! Infographic for World Prematurity Day 2014Mama Ye! Infographic on Newborn Survival in 2014Mama Ye! Infographic on Preterm Births: Disparity 2014Mama Ye! Infographic on Preterm Births: Scale of the problemMama Ye! Infographic on Preterm Births: Life-saving Interventions 2014Please do click here and read what YOU can do to save our babies     You can also Act Now!

It is not every day there is a special Ministerial visit to a gathering of journalists. Or let me put it this way; Ministers are very busy during Parliament season in Dodoma. So busy that to get even a 15 minute audience with them is almost impossible.The exception to the above happened on November 15, 2014 in Dodoma at a Mama Ye! Champions’ top-up training, when the Minister of Health and Social Welfare Dr. Seif Rashid popped in to give a word of support  to MNH champion journalists and ended up spending over an hour with them.L-R: Craig Ferla of Mama Ye! Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Seif Rashid, Kenneth Simbaya, UTPC President, Aboubakar Karsan, Executive Director of UTPCTwenty-seven members of the Union of Tanzania Press Clubs (UTPC representing all regions of our vast country were the catalyst for the minister’s visit, who took time out of his busy schedule to come to learn about their work and using the opportunity to enlighten them on current affairs in his ministry, as well as offering them support and appreciation.The top-up training was organised jointly by UTPC and Mama Ye!  as part of a series of activities to mark, for the first time in Tanzania, the World Prematurity Day, November 17, 2014.Mama Ye! Champions listening to Dr. Moke Magoma of Mama Ye! at a top-up training in Dodoma recentlyThe vividly excited minister hailed UTPC and Mama Ye! for their decision to collaboratively train and support journalist so as to enable them to contribute effectively to address maternal, newborn and child health issues in Tanzania.“You are doing a commendable job, which is in line with the government commitment to reduce maternal, newborns and child deaths. Your support in this endeavour as members of the press is critical, especially when it comes to enlightening the populace and improving accountability,” the minister told the champions, pledging a continued support to them    “I am happy to be among you because I have come to learn about your unique organisation (UTPC) which has a huge potential to transform our communities,” added Dr. Seif  RashidOutstandingly the UTPC journalists in attendance had received special training on covering stories on Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) and have been consistently reporting both in  UTPC’s newspaper, Tuwasiliane and in community and mainstream media.UTPC President Kenneth Simbaya hands copies of Tuwasiliane newspaper to the Minister of Health and Social Welfare Dr Seif RashidAmong other things the Minister took the chance to clarify issues around a topical issue in the country to this audience of acute shortage and medicine stock outs in government facilities –which are 60% of all health facilities nationwide.“We should bear in mind that Medical Stores Department (MSD), is not the only source of medicines for our facilities; we have grants for selected diseases and illnesses, but again, facilities can use their own revenues to restock medical supplies as they await MSD allocations,” the minister elaborated.That said, the tone of our two-day training  had changed for the better.“It was a great honour for the minister to spare some time for our MNH champions. It is a huge recognition for their commitment for the cause and of course their effort to ensure they live to be the ‘bridge’ they are meant to be, for the wellbeing of our community,” says  Abubakar Karsan, UTPC Executive Director.In deep appreciation the champions almost could not contain their excitement as they looked for opportunity to greet, chat and take photos with the minister. See photos of this  on our Facebook page. The visit paved a way to even bigger participation of the government in another activity organised by Mama Ye! to mark World Prematurity Day, the following Monday. (See pictures). On November 17 Mama Ye! in collaboration with The Ministry of Health, Jhpiego, Save the Children, Tanzania Midwifery Association, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Evidence for Action/Mama Ye, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and UNFPA organized an advocacy event targeting parliamentarians.The event which was hosted by The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Social Services apart from messages delivered by various speakers including The Deputy Speaker Job Ndugai, Margreth Sitta host committee chairperson, Deputy Minister of Health and Social Welfare Kebwe Stephen Kebwe and other committee chairpersons was coloured by candle lighting  to honouring, rembember and give a voice  to  Tanzania’s newborns survival, particularly preterm babies.   The message behind the numbers regarding prematurity in Tanzania is staggering. More than 210,000 babies are born too soon in Tanzania every year--which means 1 in every 9 live births is a preterm baby, requiring simple but effective interventions. Read here for actions that can be taken by various groups to increase their survival chances.Mama Ye! has also prepared special factsheets and infographics for the World Prematurity Day 2014. Click links below to read

Please do click here and read what YOU can do to save our babies     You can also Act Now!

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