Tackling maternal, child mortality through collaboration

Working together towards a common goal, government and NGOs succeed in bringing down maternal and child mortality in Enugu State. Over the years, Nigerian official statistics has shown a high maternal mortality rate which as at 2013 stood at 545 per 100,000. With this record, Nigeria was rated as one of the countries with the […]

Working together towards a common goal, government and NGOs succeed in bringing down maternal and child mortality in Enugu State.

Over the years, Nigerian official statistics has shown a high maternal mortality rate which as at 2013 stood at 545 per 100,000. With this record, Nigeria was rated as one of the countries with the highest maternal and infant mortality record in the world.
This pathetic situation necessitated intervention and commitment of government at all levels, and drew international agencies like UNICEF, WHO and the Rotary Club of Trans Ekulu, District 9140 Nigeria into partnership with some Rotary Club’s in Germany and Austria, Fresenius Foundation Germany and the Rotary Foundation USA to assist in solving this national problem.
These organisations, in collaboration with the Enugu State Ministry of Health and the Catholic Institute for Development Justice and Peace, implemented a project on Maternal and Child Health in five selected hospitals in Enugu State for a period of two years.
Several medical equipment, medical instruments and medical consumables were donated to these hospitals. Training sessions were held while advocacy visits and community dialogues were held.
Prior to the project implementation, a survey was conducted to ascertain the readiness and cooperation of the stakeholders especially the host communities and the State Ministry of Health during the project implementation.
At the end of the survey, a memorandum of understanding between Rotary club of Trans Ekulu and the ministry was developed; the host communities were consulted during the project design while benefiting hospitals were visited to ascertain their areas of need as well as to have a commitment of cooperation by the hospitals’ managements.
Sustained community dialogues were followed together with advocacy visits to political office holders, religious leaders, and so on, sensitizing them on the MCH project.
Enugu State Government, in demonstration of its practical support, paid for coverage of radio and television jingles, epilogues and dramas. This gesture resulted in unprecedented turnout by pregnant mothers and general patients at the project hospitals and indeed other hospitals in the state.
Materials were distributed freely and equipment of all sorts donated to the hospitals and the equipment include anesthetic machines, theatre beds, theatre lights, delivery beds, ultrasound machines, baby incubators, cardiocotograph machines, 20KVA power generators, refrigerators, surgical instruments, medicines and other consumables.
The MCH project had not only equipment of hospitals as the key programme but a holistic touch was made to improve on the overall quality assurance in the health system of the state.
The quality assurance involves quality of structure, which connotes improvement of infrastructures and equipment; quality of process which connotes ensuring an efficient service delivery and quality of outcome which means ensuring that final result in the health care is of international standard.
Trainings were given to health personnel, especially doctors and nurses. By this process 24 medical doctors and nurses were trained on hospital delivery, 12 doctors in operative deliveries and 24 others in emergency obstetrics. These trainings enhanced service deliveries at the hospitals.
Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) were not left out in the training programme as over 150 TBAs were sensitized on the need to refer their clients in time. Birth kits were donated to the TBAs to improve their state of hygiene.
Community health talks, free medical consultancy and treatments were organized to further sensitize the communities. 
Other components of the project were Responsible Parenthood Education, which involved visits to schools and health institutions. At schools and colleges, students were sensitized on attitudinal changes, terrorism, gangsterism, HIV and AIDS education while medical students and student nurses were sensitised on ethical behaviours in medical profession.
Over four review meetings involving the hospitals and international partners were held to access the project implementation noting areas of improvements. A final review meeting involving the government, the hospitals, traditional rulers and politicians was held with all the stakeholders, especially the government re-affirming their willingness and readiness to sustain the project and even replicate it in the state.
Data of deliveries were collected from the hospitals from July 2013 to June 2015. A statistical analysis of the data shows a steady reduction in maternal and infant death at the project hospitals and indeed in Enugu State.
This is as a result of the succeeding quality assurance already achieved. There is also hope for continuous improvement especially as more advocacy visits and sensitisations are carried out towards the fulfillment of this dream.