Commissioner Urges Collective Fight Against Child, Maternal Mortality

The Commissioner for
Women Affairs and Social Development in Bayelsa State, Ms Nengi Rufus-Spiff, has said that the fight to eradicate child and maternal mortality should be collective among stakeholders.
Ms Rufus-Spiff, made the assertion in a meeting when a Target States High Impact Project (TSHIP) team led by Hajia Nafisatu Omar, visited her in her office recently.
She called on both private and government health organizations to bring their professional experience to bear in addressing the alarming rate of premature death in infants and pregnant women in the developing world.
According to her, “the increasing rate of infants and pregnant women could partly be attributed to ignorance as well as the high incidence of patronage of traditional birth attendants, sometimes in unhygienic environment”
The commissioner advised pregnant women to always visit health care centres for proper medical attention during delivery in order to reduce the infant and maternal mortality rate in the state.
She used the forum to call on well-meaning Bayelsans and private as well as government organizations to support the present administration’s effort to drastically reduce infant and maternal mortality rate in the state.
Earlier, the Technical Officer of the team, Ms Kezzy  Ufumwen Omo, had said that the visit was to provide a platform for the Target States High Impact Project (TSHIP) team solicit the ministry’s support  in their effort at  addressing the challenges of infant and maternal mortality in the state.
According to Ms Ufumwen-Omo, misoclear and chlorhexidine products are high quality drugs produced with the World Health Organization (WHO) approval to prevent excess bleeding of mothers during child delivery and prevent umbilical cord infection in new born babies.
She said the TSHIP has come to partner with the Bayelsa State Government to fight against infant and maternal mortality in the state through enlightenment programmes on the use and distribution of the product.
She therefore appealed to the women affairs commissioner to assist in reaching out to all the relevant authorities to secure approval for the women affairs clinic to be used as a flagship for the use of the product by children and mothers.
In another development, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ayibatonye Owei,  has expressed the readiness of the state government to partner with local and international Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and donor agencies, with a view to sharing experiences on the best way forward to improve health systems in the state.