The Federal Government has expressed commitment to supporting state governments to combat maternal and neonatal mortality rates in their states .
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate stated this at Ashaka, Ndokwa East local government area of Delta State during the formal launch of the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation and Initiatives (MAMII) Project Action Plan for Delta State.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare represented by a director in the ministry, Dr John Ovuoraye said the administration of President Bola Tinubu with the support of development partners was determined to crash the high maternal and neonatal mortality rate in the country.
He hinted that 172 local government areas across thirty three states had been identified as high risk areas with prevalence of maternal and neonatal deaths .
”According to NDHS, the maternal mortality in the country is around 512 per one hundred thousand deleveries. The number is high number. That of neonatal mortality according to the 2023 NDHS is 41 per one thousand live delivery. It means it’s too high”, he stated .
Continuing, he said, ” With the support of President Bola Tinubu, we introduced the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation and Initiatives (MAMII) Project.
Partners such as USAID, WHO, UNICEF, Bill and Melinda Gates Fund, World Bank,and some European countries came together to support the MAMII Programme .So, the target now is that within the next two years, maternal mortality should crash by about 30 per cent .That’s what we are all working towards”
”In this pilot phase, we prioritized on the local government areas in each of the state in Nigeria with high neonatal and maternal mortality. In Delta , five local government areas fell into the category. They are Ndokwa East, Ughelli North, Aniocha North, Udu and Sapele . What we are doing is to see how we can reduce these deaths throughout the country”
”What we are doing here in Delta is also been done simultaneously in five other states in the country. In upper week, five other states will key in. The state governments are releasing their funding towards this project while the federal government is also matching the fund with times three of what the state is spending to fund the MAMII Programme”, the Minister stated.
Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr Joseph Onojaeme said the administration of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was doing a lot to bring down maternal and neonatal mortality rate in the state.
Onojaeme said, ”The rate for 2024 has dropped significantly from over 200 to less than 120 per hundred thousand live birth .
Some of the initiatives are not far fetched. We have currently in the state free maternal health, and free under 5 care. That means any pregnant woman attending any of the general hospitals and some selected private hospitals, will get free medical care throughout the nine months of delivery. Then children under the age of five will also enjoy free medical care. All these initiatives were put in place by the Delta State Government”
”Governor Sheriff Oborevwori is strengthening what he meant on ground when he assumed office on May 29, 2023, by releasing monthly and quarterly allocations to the state contributory health Commission to fund the scheme by ensuring that women and children of these categories, enjoy free health ”
”The ministry of health has also lived up to expectation by doing a lot of monitoring. We go round hospitals in the state to ensure that the money the state government is releasing for this purpose is well spent. The health workers in the state have actually done well but you know that in every 12, there are Judas. There are several cases of fraud, malpractices among the health workers. We have received reports whereby some pregnant women, children under 5 visit our hospitals across the state, and some health workers will collect money from them for drugs, and at the same time, they will send the medical bills to government to pay. The state government is paying for all pregnant women and children under 5 to enjoy free health care.. We have demoted some of these fraudulent health workers, and sacked many within this short period. I believe that what we are doing with the continuous monitoring, and with the support of the mothers themselves, some of these fraudulent practices will reduce”
”Report any health worker immediately that collects money for treatment of any child that is under 5 in any of our public hospitals. We run free treatment for pregnant women till delivery. Government is paying, and hospitals are not to collect money from them. We will make the phone number of the Executive Assistant to the Governor on health monitoring available, and when you see cases of demanding money from pregnant women, you should call the phone number immediately
