Jonathan to host UN Commission on Life-Saving commodities meeting

CO-CHAIR of the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving commodities for Women and Children, President Goodluck Jonathan, will on October 16, 2012 in Abuja host the international working meeting of the group.The meeting will be a follow-up to an earlier one convened on August 30th and 31st, 2012 in Oslo, Norway by the country's Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg who is a co-chair of the commission with President Jonathan.Minister of State for Health, Dr. Mohammed Ali Pate; and Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii, who have represented President Jonathan variously on the commission said preparations for the Abuja meeting were in top gear.Deputy Director Public Relations & Protocol Unit, Abubakar Jimoh, in a press statement issued yesterday said one of the key objectives of the commission is to increase access of women and children to appropriate use of medicines, medical devices and medical supplies that effectively address leading avoidable causes of death during pregnancy, child birth and childhood.Pate and Orhii attended the September 27, 2012 meeting of the Commission in New York, United States of America (USA), held at the United Nation Children's Fund (UNICEF) office, which deliberated on four major issues.The issues are: finalize the implementation plan for the 10 recommendations of the commission across the 13 overlooked Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children; give update on how to translate commitments and work plan into action both at global and national levels; reach agreement on process to identify resources gaps and next steps for working groups; and agree on modalities for communication and co-ordination moving forward.Pate and Orhii have declared Nigeria' s commitment to strengthen current efforts at boosting qualities of manufactured pharmaceutical products and enhances regulatory framework as part of the implementation strategies.They noted that implementation of the commission's 10 point recommendations on the 13 Life-Saving Commodities over a period of five years would cost not less than $2.6billion and would cumulatively save over six million lives including over 230, 000 maternal deaths.
Click here to read full news..