Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, has highlighted the far-reaching impact of the First Lady, Dr. Nonye Soludo, whose non-profit initiative, Healthy Living With Nonye Soludo, has touched thousands of lives across the state.

Speaking during a press briefing, Dr. Obidike noted the Governor’s wife’s efforts recently earned her ‘the First Lady of the Year in Nigeria on healthcare and child nutrition’ award, as well as an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Public Health and Child Nutrition from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Igbariam campus.

According to the Commissioner, the First Lady’s achievements include distribution of over 3.8 million Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs) to households across Anambra, establishment of Healthy Living Clubs in more than 800 schools; with cooking programmes, quizzes, and competitions that promote wellness, as well as free cervical cancer screening and treatment for thousands of women.

Other achievements include free corrective surgeries for children born with cleft lips and palates, state-wide vaccination campaigns against rotavirus, measles and polio, distribution of over 14,000 Healthy Living Pap to malnourished children in primary health centres, with recovery rates above 50%.

He also said the Governor’s wife achieved the provision of anti-shock garments to save mothers from preventable childbirth deaths, pad banks in over 350 schools, multivitamins for more than 26,000 elderly people, along with dignity kits during flooding, and enrollment of 1,000 persons with disabilities into the state’s health insurance scheme.

He said lifetime scholarships for indigent children and distribution of 15,000 packs of hybrid seeds for food security, skill training programmes for women, attracting over 6,000 applicants across the 21 LGAs and partnership with Nigeria’s First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, through the Renewed Hope Initiative were parts of the Governor’s wife’s achievement.

The Commissioner described Mrs. Soludo as “a quiet force of transformation” whose initiatives are “real, measurable and verifiable”, adding that her work reflects compassion similar to that of Mother Teresa.

He called on Ndi Anambra to support the continuity of these programmes, noting that sustaining the First Lady’s initiatives would further strengthen health, nutrition and community wellbeing across the state.