USAID, partners pledge N3b to tackle maternal, infant deaths

THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Federal Ministry of Health and the a Primary Health Care Development Agency of Nigeria took advantage of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa in Abuja yesterday to announce a $20 million scheme to increase capacity in the primary healthcare system and provide affordable financing options.
  The scheme particularly aims to support the reduction of preventable child mortality in Nigeria.
  The programme, entitled: “Healthymagination Mother & Child Initiative,”  will have each of the partners contributing towards the $20 million in the first phase over the next five years to reduce preventable maternal and infant mortality rates in Nigeria.
  Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said at a briefing to announce the scheme at the World Economic Forum on Africa that skills were essential to healthcare on the African continent, adding that the scheme would employ technology.
  “We need skills to rapidly grow the health sector,” Chukwu stressed.
  The programme, he explained, includes several variable components including the provision of financing and technology and the development and deployment of comprehensive training and education for midwives and a consumer health education and awareness programme.
  “These components are all part of the $20 million investment,” he noted.
  Chukwu added: “While Nigeria still comprises a large share of the world’s burden of child and maternal morbidity and mortality, infant mortality in the country has seen a 38 per cent reduction to 78 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2012.
  “These positive trends are indicative of the Nigerian government’s genuine commitment and sustained investment for maternal and newborn health, where notable progress has been made over the past few years. We have hired over 60,000 new healthcare workers that are today providing better services to expectant mothers and it is estimated that 22,000 more expectant mothers are receiving care during pregnancy.
  “Clearly, there is still more to do and with partnerships like this, we can achieve our goals through our Save One Million Lives programme.”
  Mission Director of USAID Nigeria, Michael Harvey, stressed that his organisation’s focus is to promote and support stronger governance, financial and human development and to serve as partners in the creation and implementation of economic and civil strategies for the benefit of all Nigerians.
  “Indeed, programmes with the potential to improve the health and wellbeing of the population are a critical focus of USAID’s activities in Nigeria. USAID is proud to serve as a strategic partner to the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health and GE Healthcare in support of the imitative. 
  “The reality that we know today is unacceptable and heart breaking - as nearly 300,000 mothers and three million newborns continue to die yearly from causes we know how to prevent. Through this initiative, USAID is partnering to scale up cutting-edge solutions and unlock a brighter future for the next generation of Nigerian leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs,” Harvey noted.
  The scheme is expected to give healthcare providers in Nigeria first time access to GE portable ultrasound technology like Vscan.
  According to a fact sheet, developed to provide physicians in remote areas with imaging capacities at the point of care, Vscan is a pocket side’s medical tool that houses ultrasound technology and provides doctors with an immediate, non-invasive method to help visualise information about what is happening inside the body.

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