Leadership (Abuja)
Golu Timothy
26 June 2008
To reduce high maternal morbidity and mortality rates in the Federal Capital Territory, the FCT administration has introduced free ante-natal care programme in all its hospitals for all classes of pregnant women beginning from August 1, 2008.
The FCT Minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, who made this disclosure yesterday in Abuja during a Press briefing, said these were parts of the decisions reached at Monday's FCT Executive Committee meeting (Exco) at the Banquet Hall of the FCT Minister's House, Life-Camp, Abuja.
The Minister, who was represented at the briefing by the Director of Medical and Diagnostic Services, Dr. Enefiok Benjamin Udofia, stated that the gesture would ensure an increase in uptake and quality of ante -natal care services by 20 per cent yearly in the Federal Capital Territory. Umar revealed that the FCT Exco reasoned that the action would also remove the financial barrier to accessing available quality ante -natal services for pregnant women in the Territory.
The Minister lamented that Nigeria, with only 2 per cent of the world's population, contributes 10 per cent of the world maternal deaths; remarking that each year, 60,000 women in the country die of pregnancy-related problems, with majority occurring in the northern states in which the FCT is situated." Most of these deaths are largely preventable by provision of ante-natal care and prompt treatment of obstetric emergencies," Dr. Umar added. His words, "Pregnant women make up 1.1 per cent of the population of the FCT which is crucial to population sustenance. They are most vulnerable and hence, the need to provide qualitative, comprehensive, affordable and accessible health care services to them." According to him, "free ante-natal care services is to improve the utilisation and access to available quality ANC services to pregnant women in the FCT towards achieving the MDG target of reducing maternal mortality ratio by three quarters by the end of 2015".
The Minister restated that the programme would be in phases, starting with the hospitals in the satellite towns which are the general hospitals in the area councils before moving into the Federal Capital City hospitals in about 9 months.
Umar has set up a high powered joint project task force team comprising representatives from Health and Human Services Secretariat, Social Development Secretariat and the Area Councils to jealously monitor its implementation.
He appealed to the general public to avail themselves of these services; assuring that the FCT administration was, more than ever, committed to providing qualitative, affordable and accessible health care services to all residents of the territory.
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