Minna — Executive Director of the Primary Health Care Development Agency (PHCDA), Dr. Ado Jimade Mohammed, yesterday said his agency has so far recruited and deployed 5,300 health personnel under the Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) to rural areas with a view to curbing maternal and infant mortality rate in the country.

Mohammed, who spoke yesterday in Minna while declaring open an orientation course for the 1,300 newly recruited midwives under the scheme, said the agency plans to recruit 2,000 more midwives this year. The executive director added that the Federal Government was determined to ensure that the rate of maternal and infant mortality in the country is reduced from 4.8 per cent to at least 12 per cent, hence the increase of the budgetry allocation of the agency from N 2 to N 3.6 billion this year.

He said the deployment of midwives to the rural areas has greatly helped in reducing maternal and infant mortality rate in the country, as according to him, some communities have recorded zero maternal and infant mortality in more than 100 child births.