Group strategises against maternal, child mortality in Niger

A non-governmental organisation, the White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria (WRAN) will soon  implement a three-year campaign to improve engagement in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) in Niger State. The research and community outreach advocacy campaign, according to the body’s National Coordinator, Tonte Ibraye, was aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality rate which, he […]

A non-governmental organisation, the White Ribbon Alliance Nigeria (WRAN) will soon  implement a three-year campaign to improve engagement in Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) in Niger State.

The research and community outreach advocacy campaign, according to the body’s National Coordinator, Tonte Ibraye, was aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality rate which, he said, still posed serious challenge to public health in the state.

“This intervention is necessary to increase awareness and engage citizens because research indicates that, in Niger State, there is a maternal mortality rate of 130/100,000 live births and in fact mortality rate of 260/100,000 live births,”  he noted at a 3-day workshop in Minna.

 Mr Ibraye said 48 percent of women in the state were delivered by relatives and others, while 28.8 percent of pregnant women did not consider it necessary to deliver in a health facility, describing the situation as unacceptable.

 He said WRAN intervention would ensure that at least 500,000 citizens were sensitised enough to demand their right to be involved in decisions and actions concerning their health by 20016, while the state government would be committed to implementing accountability processes at all levels of maternal, newborn and child healthcare system by 2017.

Also speaking at the occasion, a consultant gynaecologist and wife of Niger State governor, Dr Amina Abubakar Sani Bello, blamed lack of accountabilityand proper supervision mechanism, traditional beliefs. inadequate man powerand inadequate health facilities among others as some of the factorsaffecting effective health care delivery system in the state.