26 September 2008
Lagos — Following reported cases of high maternal mortality rate in Ebonyi State, Ipas, an international no-governmental organisation (NGO) that promotes women's sexual, reproductive health and rights, has commenced efforts to extend its services to state.
The intervention programme will assist the state government in checking the incidence of high mortality rate which the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Sunday Nwangele put at over 1,800 deaths per 100,000 live births annually.
The figure which is said to be the highest among the South Eastern states can only be compared with statistics on maternal mortality rates in states in the Northern part of the country.
The Country Director of Ipas, Dr. Ejike Oji said in Abuja that the organisation will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government to enable it commence the implementation of the intervention programme.
He said that Ipas had already held meetings with the wife of the state Governor, Mrs. Josephine Elechi, the Commissioners for Health and Women Affairs, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, officials of Health Sector Development Programme and women groups on the intervention.
Oji said that Ipas would train personnel who would provide services for pregnant women and Post Abortion Care (PAC) services that would lead to a reduction on the number of deaths caused by complications of unsafe abortion.
He said that Ipas would also equip selected health facilities where services would be provided, while health managers would be trained on how to monitor programmes and conduct facilitative supervision to ensure that the right things were done.
He commended Mrs. Elechi for her enthusiasm in ensuring that Ebonyi women enjoyed better health care services, saying that it was time to turn around the state through the provision of better health care services, especially for pregnant women.
Nwangele said at a meeting that the state government was working towards reversing the poor health indices of Ebonyi as evidenced in the rehabilitation of health facilities and the development of a reform plan for the entire health system.
He said that the state government had started providing free antenatal care services under a Safe Motherhood Initiative. The state is working with UNICEF to provide better maternities in hospitals, while the training of personnel who would work in hospitals in the state had commenced.
Nwangele announced that a total of N100 million had been given as grants to mission hospitals located in "hard to reach areas" to upgrade their facilities and that such amenities would soon be extended to operators of private hospitals in the state.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Mr. Steve Orogwu, said that in Ebonyi state "pregnancy is like going to a war front" and that when a women gives birth "she is said to have come back from war". "It is great that Ipas has come to Ebonyi. Our governor is concerned, committed and sincere to reduce the high maternal mortality rate in the state. Mrs. Elechi promised to make a positive impact on the reduction of maternal deaths before leaving office." he said.
Commenting on the Ipas intervention, the State Chairwoman of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS), Mrs. Mariah Nwankwo, said that poverty was responsible for the high maternal mortality in the state.
"Women can not afford to attend antenatal clinics. Though services are free, they do not have money to pay for their transport to the health centres. They carry women who are in labour in wheel barrows to hospitals and some of them die on the way.
"One woman who called me for assistance at a late hour lost twins because she has been in labour for three days. Some do not even have wrappers used during deliveries," she said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
