Leadership (Abuja)
Winifred Ogbebo
4 July 2008
Abuja — The acting Minister of Health, Dr. Muhammad Lawal, has said that between 500,000 and 1 million women now live with fistulae which has made them outcasts.
He made this statement yesterday at a press briefing to commemorate the 2008 National Safe Motherhood day in Abuja.
At the event, with the theme: "Countdown to Reducing Maternal, Newborn and Child Deaths – A Collective Integrated Responsibility, the minister said that, "our sisters, mothers, daughters and children are dying in thousands everyday. Studies have shown that one maternal death occurs every minute and everyday at least 1,450 women die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, that is a minimum of 529,000 women dying every year."
Reeling out figures, the minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, in the Ministry, Dr. Shehu Sule said in addition to the number of death each year.
About 80,000 women each develop fistulae making a woman permanently incontinent. In Nigeria today, major cause of deaths are haemorrhage, 23 per cent; infection, 17 per cent; eclampsia 11 per cent, obstructed labour 11 per cent, unsafe abortion 11 per cent, malaria 11 per cent, anaemia 11 per cent and others 5 per cent.
Emphasising that despite the vulnerability of women and children, their fate is often ignored, adding that the lives of many children could be saved each year if they were reached by promotive, preventive and curative any point in time.
He disclosed that the safe motherhood initiative is a global movement launched in Nairobi in 1987 with the aim of reducing maternal mortality ratio globally by 50 per cent by year 2000, but a recent review had revealed that very little progress has been made.
In a similar vein, the promotion of gender equlity and empowering women, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, was the bedrock of discussions at the stakeholders forum on United Nations Population (UNFPA) 6th country's programme of assistance to Nigeria held yesterday.
In a keynote address by the Minister of National Planning Commission, Senator Sanusi Dagash, he said the programme was implemented at the federal level and in 15 states of the federation and focused on three sub-programmes or thematic issues of Population and Development Strategies (PDS), Reproductive Health (RH) and Gender Equality and Equity.
According to him, "UNFPA's assistance to Nigeria commenced on January 1, 2003 and ended December 31, 2008, serving as a bridging year. During the period, the programme had a budget of US $40.0 million out of which US $ 25.0 million came from regular resources and the balance of $ 15 million came from multilateral and other sources.
UNFPA's strategy for preventing maternal mortability includes: family planning to reduce unintended pregnancies, skilled care at births and timely emergency obstetric care for all women who develop complications.
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