Women Affairs Ministry wants End To Maternal Mortality

The Rivers State Ministry of Women Affairs, seeking to improve women’s health has charged health practitioners in the state to partner with government to provide an action plan for improved healthcare system for women in the state.

Women’s Affairs Commissioner, Mrs Manuela George-Izunwa gave this charge in her address at a one-day discussion forum for health practitioners and administrators, organised by the State Ministry of Women Affairs in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

While addressing participants on theme “Women’s Health; The Progress Technique”, Mrs. George-Izunwa, expressed worry over the increasing rate of maternal mortality in the state and stressed that the ministry was ready to partner with stakeholders in the health sector, especially in the promotion of health care and the well being of women in all 23 local government councils in the state.

She further said, the forum was organised to specifically identify top priority areas of the health needs of women with a view to coming up with adequate solution and to point out issues that might require some form of advocacy and awareness.

In a chat, shortly after the forum, the Head of Department, Institute of Maternal and Child Health, University of Port Harcourt, Professor Alice Nte, commended the ministry for the initiative saying that to have active healthcare system women need to know where, how and when to get help.

According to her, ignorance, poverty and diseases played key roles in the rise in material and infant mortality.

At the end of the forum, participants and resource persons came up with some recommendations that quality healthcare should be easily accessible, staffing should be increased while drugs must always be available. They further recommend that 24 hours laboratory and obstetrics services should be available.

They also called for the institutionalisation of strategies by the Ministry of Women Affairs to improve access to quality health care for women’s healthcare needs through advocacy, awareness creation, infrastructural development and effective collaboration with the Ministry of Health.