The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) project at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, has called on stakeholders to intensify pregnancy surveillance to reduce maternal mortality and improve child health outcomes.
The call was made by the project’s Principal Investigator, Dr Faruk Bashir, at the second-quarter Community Advisory Board (CAB) meeting held on Thursday in Bauchi.
Bashir said the meeting reviewed project challenges and explored practical strategies to strengthen collaboration for more effective community health outreach.
According to him, CAB members include traditional and religious leaders, women and youth groups, civil society organizations, academics and government agencies.
“They play a vital role as community gatekeepers, and the success of the project depends largely on their support and active engagement.
“There is no way we can succeed without strong synergy with the community. Your voices, insights and blessings are central to everything we do,” Bashir said.
He urged members to continue to guide and support project implementation in their roles as custodians of tradition and guardians of public trust.
Bashir explained that CHAMPS focuses on understanding the causes of child mortality and applying scientific evidence to prevent avoidable deaths, particularly among children under the age of five.
He noted that many stillbirths and early childhood deaths could be prevented through improved pregnancy monitoring, skilled delivery, better nutrition, vaccination and effective infection control.
The Co-Principal Investigator, Dr Lamaran Makama, said CHAMPS was established to build long-term surveillance networks capable of generating robust data on child mortality in developing countries.
Makama said such data would support timely and targeted interventions to save children’s lives.
The CHAMPS project operates in Bauchi and Cross River states and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In his remarks, the District Head of Miri and Chairman of the CAB, Hussaini Othman, pledged continued community support, describing the project as critical to the survival and wellbeing of mothers and children.
