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By Chidi Nkwopara
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
OWERRI—IMO State government has commended the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for regularly supporting it in all its social welfare programmes.The Deputy Governor, Chief Ebere Udeagu, made government’s stand known while declaring open a 21 day emergency obstetrics care training programme for medical doctors, at the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri.He expressed the willingness of the state government to continue to partner with UNICEF, stressing that the state government was leaving no stone unturned in its sincere effort to conquer the current battle against maternal and infant mortality.
Chief Udeagu equally disclosed that the state government had not only set up an ultra modern teaching hospital at Umuna, Orlu, but had also procured and donated modern medical equipment to all the 27 local government areas of the state, to facilitate health care of the rural masses.The Deputy Governor was optimistic that with the training of medical doctors in the state, there was every hope of winning the battle against disease, as well as maternal and infant mortality in Imo state
In his welcome address, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Chid Marume, described the training as “timely and most appropriate", as it is one of the strategies for accelerating reduction in maternal, neo-natal and under five years mortality and morbidity rates. "This training is timely and most appropriate. It is one of the strategies enunciated by government, to accelerate the reduction of maternal, neo-natal and under five years morbidity and mortality rates, which has sadly been on the increase for over a decade”, Dr. Marume said.
The commissioner lamented that Nigeria, with a population of approximately 126 million people, still faces challenges of averting deaths of women, from pregnancy related causes. Speaking also, the interim administrator of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Dr. Danjuma Sulai,harped on the importance of the workshop, especially at a time when many lives are needlessly wastedthrough pregnancy complications. "The Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, has highly motivated and dedicated staff. They however need more working facilities to check maternal and neo-natal morbidity and mortality”, Dr. Sulai said.In his own contribution, the UNICEF representative and consultant emergency obstetrician, Dr. Silas Ochejele, emphasized that most complications were avoidable if tackled in time.
He regretted that some of the pregnant women do not start in time to go to the right place for their treatment, warning that “unless the right equipment were put in place and proper training given to members of the medical team, we may never get to eliminate neo-natal morbidity and mortality in Nigeria”. The essence of the 21 day workshop according to Vanguard investigations is to equip the medical doctors to face the pregnancy problems with confidence.
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