The Lagos State Government said eight mother-child hospitals have taken off in the state to help fight high rate of infant and maternal mortality.
While six of these hospitals have since taken off, contract for additional two located in Badagry and Epe have been awarded, and work is beginning soon.
Giving a status report on the state’s preparedness to meeting the Millennium Development Goals IV and V, Governor Babatunde Fashola said never again would any mother be allowed to die in the process of giving birth in the state.
He spoke to a large crowd of stakeholders and other health workers at the Blueroof auditorium of the LTV while presenting the status report on the sector last Friday.
The governor said between 2010 and June this year, the five Mother and Child Hospitals have delivered 45,249 babies, out of which 15,050 were delivered through the caesarian section and 29,497 were normal deliveries. He said within the same period, a total of 415, 259 women have been attended to in ate-natal clinic visits.
The hospitals already in operation, Fashola said are located at Gbaja, in Suru-Lere, Ikorodu, Ifako-Ijaiye, Isolo, Ajegunle, while work is ongoing at Amuwo-Odofin and Alimosho.
Each of the hospital complex, he explained, is a four-storey building, designed to contains 110 beds, two surgical theatres and seven consulting rooms.
Fashola said to further reduce the distance and access of expectant mothers and babies to hospitals government has concluded plans to upgrade at least one of the primary health care centres in all the 57 local councils in the state into a 24-hour health facility.
Fashola who took a retrospective look at the programme said it is a project aimed at expanding the frontiers of the comprehensive health reforms that started in 2007.
“The government intends to provide one model Primary Health Care Centre that will be open 24 hours everyday,in each of the 57 local councils. The first five are ready to take-off, while others are in various stages of renovations.
Shedding more light on the other components of the health reform, Fashola said the state has enacted laws to protect pregnant women from being denied financial support which is critical to access to good nutrition by the men who impregnate them, just as there is also a law for the protection of women who suffer post-delivery depression. The Governor said as progress is being made to overcome non-communicable diseases and the risk they pose to pregnant women, government would continue to reduce the distance between the pregnant woman and the hospital. “At the time I was born, only the Lagos Island Maternity (where I was born); and Ayinke House in Ikeja were the preferred facilities for women who lived in places like Badagry, Ikorodu, Epe and other far flung places in Lagos. This would be corrected once these model PHCs takes off,” he said.
He added that the government will not spare any tax payer’s income entrusted to it in order to give life to the vessels of life and protect God’s precious gifts to mankind.
To further strengthen safe deliveries the government, Fashola said, has trained 2,350 traditional birth attendants, (TBA), and 231 other health workers on Emergency Obstetrics Care, 121 Local Government Health workers on Essential Newborn Care and 51 health workers on Contraceptive Logistics Management system.
The Governor who also launched the home based Maternal and Child Health hand books as an integral part of sensitisation and enlightenment towards maternal and child mortality reduction directed that it should be issued free to any pregnant woman when they get registered for Ante-Natal care. He explained that the Maternal Health handbook contains a complete medical and obstetric history of the woman for four pregnancies and thus ensure continuum of care wherever she seeks medical services and intervention and also provides information on danger signs in pregnancy, family planning, nutrition in pregnancy, exclusive breast feeding, birth preparedness and complication readiness which are all aimed at improving her knowledge and health seeking behaviours. “Our women of reproductive age are advised to carry the handbooks at all times during pregnancy. If properly used by all mothers in the State, it could serve as an important means to assess epidemiological characteristics of the pregnant population, necessary for deciding priorities, planning and budgeting from a public health perspective.”
He said the project launch would be followed by town hall meetings in all the Senatorial districts of the State to further disseminate the goals and objectives of the programme and encourage the use of the handbooks. “Local Government Chairmen and their spouses are expected to mobilise their constituencies to translate to the utilisation of the services being made available”, he said while also expressing the hope that the Civil Society Organisations will continue to protect the interest of consumers by serving as independent monitors and watchdogs of the programme”. Governor Fashola restated that the Millennium Development Goals number four and five are minimum development goals in Lagos State which would be achieved and also commended the Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction (MCMR) Ambassadors who have accepted to take on the task of championing the cause.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris expressed optimism that with the formal launch, gaps in maternal, newborn and child health service delivery will be tackled, with resultant impact on the health indices of the mothers and children.
He added that the State will continue to increase her investments in the human resources for health, infrastructural upgrade of health facilities and advocacy relevant to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health.
The Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu who was represented by the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Professor Akin Osibogun commended the efforts of the government of Lagos State for the well being of the mother and child. The Minister said the Maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is one of the highest in the world and is one of the reasons that has compelled the Federal Government to put several measures in place to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
In a message of goodwill from the United Nations Organisations like the United Nations Children Educational Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Olubunmi Asha, reiterated the commitment of the United Nations to continue to support the people and government of Lagos to ensure that every birth is safe and that every woman and girl child is treated with dignity and respect. She added that the United Nations agencies will also ensure that every child is born safely to fulfill his purpose and destiny in life.
Also speaking, one of the Maternal Child Care Reduction Ambassadors and former Deputy Governor, Princess Sarah Adebisi Sosan, congratulated the State Government for investing in Maternal and Child Care Mortality Reduction. She also enjoined women to take advantage of several Primary Health Centres around them and urged the women to ensure that as they leave the venue of the programme, they spread the news on behalf of the government to others.
The overview on the Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction Programme was presented by Professor Bamdele Osinusi while the overview on Maternal Booklet and Child Booklets were presented by Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora and Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa respectively. Prominent among those who attended the programme were the First Lady Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, former Deputy Governor, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, members of the State Executive Council including the Special Adviser on Public Health, Dr Yewande Adeshina, House of Assembly member, Hon Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, Chairman of Local Government Councils, the Akran of Badagry, Aholu Menu Toyi I, other traditional rulers and several stakeholders in the health sector.
