‘58,000 deaths from pregnancy unacceptable’ – Group

A civil society group has reiterated that it is unacceptable that about 58,000 women die yearly from maternal/child mortality-related issues. The group, Ummah Support Initiative, on Monday also said that all tiers of government have crucial roles in efforts to curb the menace. The Executive Director of the group, Mr. Abdullahi Danjuma made this known […]

A civil society group has reiterated that it is unacceptable that about 58,000 women die yearly from maternal/child mortality-related issues.

The group, Ummah Support Initiative, on Monday also said that all tiers of government have crucial roles in efforts to curb the menace.

The Executive Director of the group, Mr. Abdullahi Danjuma made this known at the Emir of Jiwa Palace in Abuja during a sensitization/advocacy programme tagged ”Make Naija Stronger” organized by the Ummah Support Initiative in collaboration with ONE Campaign.

Danjuma said the group discovered that there is a deficit of health facilities in the FCT and aimed at mobilizing the residents to demand for their health rights from the authorities concerned.

He further lamented that inadequate funding in the sector has denied pregnant mothers access to quality health services, a problem largely responsible for the high rate of maternal mortality in the country, especially in the rural areas.

“We are calling on the government to do three things to address the health challenges; fully fund the National Health Act and its provisions, increase transparency in health programming and spending and scale-up investments in the 2017 budget for areas that can have the greatest health impact for Nigerian citizens” he said.

Reacting, a cross section of participants at the workshop decried the poor state of Jiwa Primary Healthcare Centre, adding that the health centre lacks qualified doctors and inadequate drugs.

One of the residents, Nuhu Zassa who spoke with our reporter said it is quite unfortunate that Jiwa, the largest ward in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) does not have a well-structured and equipped General Hospital to render quality health services to the residents of the community.

Daily Trust gathered that most pregnant women in the community have to travel some kilometres to Gwagwalada General Hospital to access healthcare services.

Nuhu cited instances where some pregnant women and other patients died before they got to Gwagwalada General Hospital because of the distance.

The residents appealed to the government to situate a General Hospital in their community to alleviate the sufferings of not just pregnant women but all the residents.