Ekiti trains officers to combat maternal, perinatal death

... As Nigeria accounts for 20% of global maternal death

Ekiti state government has reiterated its commitment and interest in eradicating maternal and perinatal death in Ekiti state.

This is coming as Nigeria presently account for about 20 percent of global maternal deaths and with a still birth rate of 41.7/1000 birth account for one of the highest rate of still birth in Africa and globally.

The Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Oyebanji Filani,a medical doctor stated this at the opening ceremony of one day training on Community Based Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response Officers from the sixteen local government areas of the state.

The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Folakemi Olomojobi,a medical doctor said the death of a woman while pregnant or shortly after birth and the death of a baby within the first week of life are both tragic events of immense consequences to the family, community and state which must be prevented by the commitments and responsibilities of all stakeholders.

Oyebanji reiterated that the state health insurance scheme commissioned by the governor has taken off in all the sixteen local governments in the state and urged pregnant women to register to access quality health care that will facilitate satisfactory pregnancy outcomes and prevent maternal or perinatal death.

Earlier, the chairman MPDSR State Steering Committee, Sunday Omoya said the purpose of the training was to scale up MPDSR to the various local government areas to ensure the commencement of appropriate audit system that will significantly reduce maternal mortality in the state.

Goodwill messages were presented by some key stakeholders at the training, including the Permanent Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Pharmacist Olabisi Arogundade.