Ambode, MWAN, Advocate for Women’s Health, Empowerment

The Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode and the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, have called on stakeholders to prioritise the health of women, saying this represents the lifeline of the society.

They said for Nigeria to attain Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by global experts, women’s access to quality maternal and child healthcare, access to disease preventive tools and empowerment must be prioritised.

Speaking at the 20th Biennial Conference and 40th Anniversary/Investiture of the Medical Women’ s Association of Nigeria (MWAN) held in Lagos, Mrs Ambode said attaining SDGs without empowering women, particularly in the area of family planning, will not yield the desired result.

“Our role as women in nation building and economic development cannot be overemphasise.”

She said the challenges including HIV/AIDS, cancer and other ailments have continued to cut short lives of women and children on a daily basis, urging MWAN to empower women with information on healthy lifestyles that would prevent untimely deaths.

Ambode urged the association to deliberate on the modalities to encourage women on how to guard against these diseases and live healthily, adding that the association should support government’s efforts to make quality services available to all the citizens.

“I enjoin you to support this administration through the provision of other equipment in all the healthcare facilities across the state,“she said.

On her part, the new President of the association, Dr. Omowunmi Bakare said in the next two years, the association will do more in aiding women’s health through strategic engagement and effective collaboration.

She however lamented that MWAN’s cancer screening centre, which has screened over 6,000 women was in dire need of refurbishment in other to increas clientele for effective healthcare screening service.

Outgoing President of MWAN, Dr Modupe Abiola, said that the association had collaborated selflessly in impacting the lives of women and children.

Abiola said: “We were able to do this through the support of various organisations as well as with the support of the government.