Jibril Charges Govt On Healthcare Delivery

Mrs Sarah Jibril, a former PDP presidential aspirant, has appealed to the federal and state governments to improve the quality of healthcare for the Nigerian woman.

Speaking in Abuja on Sunday with newsmen, Jibril said the call was in view of the high rate of infant and maternal mortality in the country.

She said that in spite of the efforts by the various tiers of government, maternal and infant mortality had remained high in the country.

Jibril also regretted that many women and children in rural areas could not access healthcare services.

“Health is wealth and biologically women are the people who go through the transformation of the human species right from the womb.

“So, the health of women, particularly at the reproductive stage, must come as a very serious indispensable priority, not only at the federal level but also at the state and local government levels and even the private sector,’’ she said.

She stressed the need for the government to provide adequate facilities, manpower and other social amenities in terms of training and public enlightenment to promote the delivery of healthcare to women.

Jibril added that health workers and medical practitioners also had their roles to play in ensuring a quality service for safe delivery.

She said that health workers, including doctors, consultants, nurses and field workers, should be more interested in reducing the mortality rate than using their offices to acquire money from pregnant women.

“For those who are making money out of the project and are giving inadequate services, they are the saboteurs of our national development because when more women die, the children are not adequately catered for.

“This is why we have high mortality and high percentage of criminals.

“This makes total nonsense of the issue of child birth, of citizens’ development, and of population development,’’ she added.

The former aspirant noted that having the best set of mothers, best class of healthcare services, and best class of social institutions was the constitutional role of everybody, including the pregnant woman, her husband and the general public.

She said that while it was important for husbands to provide for their pregnant wives, it was also the responsibility of the woman to take good care of herself.

“Pregnant women must eat well in order not to endanger their lives and their husbands must treat them fine because when you have a frustrated, battered and unhappy woman, it affects the emotional development of the future and even the family environment,’’ Jibril said.

She urged all stakeholders, including the government, public and private institutions as well as individuals to perform their constitutional roles toward the provision and maintenance of im