Hammed Shittu
19 September 2007
Ilorin — Wife of Kwara State governor and initiator of the Well-Being Foundation, Mrs Toyin Saraki, yesterday asked the Federal Government and stakeholders in the health sector to ensure that Nigeria begins to implement credible health records that could help in reducing high rate of maternal and child mortality.
Saraki, who lamented high rate of maternal and child mortality across the country, said Nigeria must strive to meet the demands of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), with particular reference to goal four, which deals with improving the conditions of women giving birth.
Saraki, at the opening of a technical review meeting on the Nigerian Integrated Personal Maternal and Child Health Record (NIPMCHR), in Ilorin, Kwara State, said it was imperative that stakeholders, which are government, health care providers and mothers work together to form a common perspective on the situation which if not checked, poses grave danger to the future of Nigerian children.
"There should be a concerted effort towards tackling health inequalities in our country and in providing a sure foundation through a healthy pregnancy and early childhood for our mothers and children respectively", she said pointing out that her Foundation was working seriously with the Federal ministry of health to perfect the project which stared when she presented two documents to the ministry on the issue.
Mrs. Saraki who was happy with the number and calibre of participation at the three-day event described the current mortality rate as an unacceptable situation saying the technical review meeting when completed would serve a long way in placing Nigeria among the comity of nations desirous of seeing a drastic reduction in maternal and child mortality according to the globally accepted MDG
She said: 'gathering here today is an indication that the death of women and children in the process of delivery is a terrible occurrence that we must fight against. We agree that the death of women leaves traumatising effect on families and societies. We agree that these two medical problems have arguably been the most neglected in the world and that being properly tackled, most of these mortalities are actually preventable. We must therefore begin to move towards preventing all of these mortalities that we can possible prevent.
"To attain our goals, our strategy must be holistic and total. We must begin to organise our health delivery services stressing the need for focused antenatal care, preventive and health education services as well as maintaining adequate records of every pregnancy and child birth recorded in the country."
Such records, according to her will serve as a ready tool for health care providers and is a credible platform to involve every one in the fight against preventable mortality. It would also serve to encourage partnership between health professionals and parents, improve communication between health professionals and increase parental knowledge of their child's health and development.
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