Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola has said that information is the key strategy to reducing maternal and child deaths in the state.
Fashola who stressed the need for women particularly at the grassroots to be well informed about pregnancy, childbirth and after delivery posited that maternal and child deaths are preventable only if women at the grassroots are well informed.
She spoke during a town hall meeting with the people of Lagos West 1 Senatorial district on maternal and child mortality reduction programme. "In past years, we have witnessed various initiatives by the state government to demonstrate its commitment towards ensuring that the process of procreation is joyful and that no woman loses her life while giving birth.
All these efforts have no doubt yielded positive results as shown in the progress recorded towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. But we can achieve much more if our people at the grassroots are well informed on what to do when faced with challenging conditions during pregnancy and after delivery," she said.
Fashola added that while it is the responsibility of government to provide the needed health facilities and infrastructure, the desired objective of reducing maternal and child deaths will not be achieved if pregnant women and nursing mothers do not patronise and use these facilities as a result of lack of awareness or misconception about modern health practices hence the importance of the town hall meeting.
She expressed optimism that families, communities and leaders in Lagos West 1 Senatorial District comprising 18 local governments and local council development areas which is hosting the first town hall meeting in the series of town hall meetings to senatorial districts can be counted upon to work alongside government to bring about positive change by ensuring proper utilisation of health facilities especially the primary health care centers and maternal care hospitals in the senatorial district.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris stated that the town hall meeting is meant to enlighten the public on efforts being made by government to reduce maternal and child mortality as well as open their mind to the role they need to play to ensure the success of the programme.
"The major aspect of our maternal and child mortality reduction programme is public enlightenment that is why we are going to the grassroots on senatorial districts basis to engage with the people at the grassroots. We want to get a feedback from them, we want to let them know how to access the improved facilities and services for maternal and child care at the grassroots level and educate and empower them with information so that they can take ownership of the programme".
Idris said the exercise cannot be over emphasised in lieu of the need to address grey areas as well as involve the people in the implementation of the programme to achieve the desired results stressing that they have a crucial role to play in the success of the campaign.
"We are revitalizing the primary health care system to address the issue of accessibility. We are renovating, upgrading and staffing primary healthcare centres to meet maternal and child health needs, and also ensuring that there is a proper referral system that will address the issue of basic and specialist care from the primary to the tertiary levels of care", he said.
The Commissioner added that government has built eight maternal and child care centres (MCCs) and approved the construction of two additional one to bring the total number of MCCs to 10 stressing that the Centres are not only strategically located to serve as referral centres to primary health care centres but are also equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to address the issues of maternal, neo-natal and child health.
"We are currently refurbishing the Ayinke House which will serve as the tertiary specialist centre for cases that cannot be handled at the primary and secondary levels of care. This facility when completed will have necessary expertise and equipment in dealing with maternal and child health issues. All these efforts are aimed at addressing the issue of infrastructure in maternal and child care delivery services", Idris explained.
He stated that all the outlined strategies will be integrated in such a way that it will address the issue of ignorance, delay in people accessing health care, lack of infrastructure and equipment as well as the dearth of expertise in maternal and child care delivery.
Fashola who stressed the need for women particularly at the grassroots to be well informed about pregnancy, childbirth and after delivery posited that maternal and child deaths are preventable only if women at the grassroots are well informed.
She spoke during a town hall meeting with the people of Lagos West 1 Senatorial district on maternal and child mortality reduction programme. "In past years, we have witnessed various initiatives by the state government to demonstrate its commitment towards ensuring that the process of procreation is joyful and that no woman loses her life while giving birth.
All these efforts have no doubt yielded positive results as shown in the progress recorded towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5. But we can achieve much more if our people at the grassroots are well informed on what to do when faced with challenging conditions during pregnancy and after delivery," she said.
Fashola added that while it is the responsibility of government to provide the needed health facilities and infrastructure, the desired objective of reducing maternal and child deaths will not be achieved if pregnant women and nursing mothers do not patronise and use these facilities as a result of lack of awareness or misconception about modern health practices hence the importance of the town hall meeting.
She expressed optimism that families, communities and leaders in Lagos West 1 Senatorial District comprising 18 local governments and local council development areas which is hosting the first town hall meeting in the series of town hall meetings to senatorial districts can be counted upon to work alongside government to bring about positive change by ensuring proper utilisation of health facilities especially the primary health care centers and maternal care hospitals in the senatorial district.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris stated that the town hall meeting is meant to enlighten the public on efforts being made by government to reduce maternal and child mortality as well as open their mind to the role they need to play to ensure the success of the programme.
"The major aspect of our maternal and child mortality reduction programme is public enlightenment that is why we are going to the grassroots on senatorial districts basis to engage with the people at the grassroots. We want to get a feedback from them, we want to let them know how to access the improved facilities and services for maternal and child care at the grassroots level and educate and empower them with information so that they can take ownership of the programme".
Idris said the exercise cannot be over emphasised in lieu of the need to address grey areas as well as involve the people in the implementation of the programme to achieve the desired results stressing that they have a crucial role to play in the success of the campaign.
"We are revitalizing the primary health care system to address the issue of accessibility. We are renovating, upgrading and staffing primary healthcare centres to meet maternal and child health needs, and also ensuring that there is a proper referral system that will address the issue of basic and specialist care from the primary to the tertiary levels of care", he said.
The Commissioner added that government has built eight maternal and child care centres (MCCs) and approved the construction of two additional one to bring the total number of MCCs to 10 stressing that the Centres are not only strategically located to serve as referral centres to primary health care centres but are also equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to address the issues of maternal, neo-natal and child health.
"We are currently refurbishing the Ayinke House which will serve as the tertiary specialist centre for cases that cannot be handled at the primary and secondary levels of care. This facility when completed will have necessary expertise and equipment in dealing with maternal and child health issues. All these efforts are aimed at addressing the issue of infrastructure in maternal and child care delivery services", Idris explained.
He stated that all the outlined strategies will be integrated in such a way that it will address the issue of ignorance, delay in people accessing health care, lack of infrastructure and equipment as well as the dearth of expertise in maternal and child care delivery.
No comments:
Post a Comment