The Presidency has called for home-grown solutions to high maternal deaths in Abia State as it expressed worry over the high rate of maternal mortality in the state, and currently the state with the highest burden of maternal deaths in the southeast.
The special adviser to the President on health, Dr Salma Ibrahim Anas stated this at a courtesy visit to the Abia state governor Dr Alex Otti in Umuahia.
Anas mentioned that President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda, especially on health is robust and capable of improving the health status of Nigerians and reducing the ugly health statistics but it requires the states to collaborate with the federal government to actualise it, adding that the presidential initiative to accelerate progress in maternal health has selected some states including Abia state to support with technical assistance for maternal death reduction.
The Special Adviser to President Tinubu maintained that the initiative is proposing home-grown identification of the problems as well as homegrown solutions to the problems.
She outlined some of the ways the Abia state government can improve the health status of the residents by vigorously embarking on health education and health promotion, targeting young people to join in creating awareness of healthy living and working out measures to ensure the prices of drugs are reduced to the barest minimum.
She mentioned that many vulnerable cannot pay for their health services, stating that President Tinubu wants to work with the Abia state government to expand the coverage of the basic healthcare provision fund, BHCPF, she appeals to Governor Otti to fashion out ways of expanding the covered of BHCPF in the state.
In his response the Abia state governor, Alex Otti assures that he has keyed into the renewed hope agenda of Mr President, he says the state is working out ways of talking about the unfavourable indices of maternal deaths.
He explained that when he assumed office, he noticed myriads of problems, that the tertiary health institution had no accreditation, the state university teaching hospital was in a deplorable state, he intensified efforts at upgrading the facilities and a few months later he got the accreditation from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria. The governor mentioned that as a way of keying into the renewed hope agenda he electrified the institutions and 948 primary healthcare centers.
He hinted to the SA about his plans to give Abia a medical city that has the capacity to reverse medical tourism and tackle the brain drain as well.
On maternal and child mortality, Governor Otti affirmed that it is dear to his government and that his wife is keenly following up with progress on it. Assuring that the state which has keyed into the plàns of President Tinubu will deploy all necessary resources to reverse the unpalatable indices of maternal mortality.
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