No excuse for infant/mother mortality, A’Ibom tells nurses, midwives

Emeka Samuel, Uyo

Akwa Ibom State government has warned newly employed nurses and midwives in the state Primary Healthcare Development Agency that they would be made to account for any unnecessary deaths in their hands.

The state government also warned them not to avoid postings to rural areas, but to remain committed to the oaths of the nursing profession aimed at rendering service to humanity by saving lives unconditionally.

Chairman, governing board of the agency, Dr Martins Akpan gave the warning at a 3-day Orientation Course for newly employed nurses and an 8-day training on Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) to select midwives in Uyo.

The trainings in conjunction with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, were carried out under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) Human Resources for Health (HRH) Intervention funds.

Akpan, who stressed that the agency would no longer accept excuses and indolence for the death of babies and mothers emphasised that “That is time to prevent excess maternity and newborn morbidity and mortality in Akwa Ibom State, hence the engagement of more professional and skilled birth attendants.”

While noting that the programmes were, more or less, refresher courses, especially, for the retired and serving ones among them, the Chairman stated that more was required of healthcare providers at the primary healthcare (PHC) level.

Describing PHC as “the mother of all healthcare services the world over,” Akpan charged participants in particular and all PHC workers in the State in general to, at all times, “bring their professionalism to bear, while being diligent, committed and compassionate in the discharge of their duties.”

The chairman opined that with “the provision of quality and affordable health care services at the PHC Centres, the narrative will change, in line with the focus of the Governor Umo Eno-led Administration on healthcare services and in fulfilment of the Universal Health Coverage.”

He lauded the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), one of the three Gateways through which BHCPF is implemented, for graciously granting the authorisation to utilise BHCPF Human Resources for Health (HRH) Intervention funds for Nurses/ Midwives in the state.

Executive Secretary, AKSPHCDA, Dr Eno Attah, while emphasising diligence to work, however, frowned on officers’ complaints and rejections of postings to health centres they describe as being ‘too rural/remote/interior’.

Attah stated that “no matter how remote the location of a primary health facility is, so long as people lived there, those people still need health care services and it is incumbent on health workers to provide those services.”

National Desk Officer, BHCPF HRH, NPHCDA Gateway, Dr Phyllis Ogah, enumerated the objectives of the programme to include understanding the structure of the PHC system and services, analysis of the state of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Nigeria and understanding the strategies to improve the Reproductive, Maternity, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAH+N).

Other objectives according to Odey include training participants on PHC Data Management and the use of PHC Data tools, as well as training participants on inter-personal communication skills.

“Make sure no woman/infant dies an unnecessary death,” she said, charging them to ensure that they make a difference between themselves and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs).

The training covered all areas of BEmONC, including, “Situation of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health in Nigeria”; “Ist to 3rd Stage Labour and Resuscitation of Newborn”; “Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness”; “Use of Partograph in the Management of Labour” while participants were exposed to practical sessions in some of the hospitals in the state.