FCT sets up task force to curb maternal deaths

The Federal Capital Territory Administration has identified delays in seeking and accessing healthcare, socio-cultural barriers, transportation challenges and financial constraints as some of the factors contributing to maternal deaths in the nation’s capital.

The FCT Administration made this known on Friday during the activation of the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative, MAMII, at the Primary Healthcare Centre, Garki Area 2, Abuja.

As part of efforts to address the identified challenges, the administration inaugurated a MAMII task force to coordinate interventions aimed at reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths across the territory.

MAMII is a flagship Federal Government initiative designed to accelerate action towards reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths through stronger community engagement and improved access to quality maternal and newborn health services.

Speaking at the event, the National Coordinator of MAMII, Dr Dayo Adeyanju, said a four-day engagement with communities and health stakeholders in the FCT had helped the team identify some of the factors responsible for maternal deaths.

Adeyanju said, “The data we reviewed showed, yes, women are dying as a result of the delays. But when we went there, it was obvious to us some of the critical delays which we have highlighted, some of the illnesses present in the room.”

He identified socio-cultural practices that discourage women from seeking timely medical attention as a major concern, noting that some women attend antenatal care but eventually deliver outside health facilities.

According to him, the field assessment also revealed cases of women who had attended several antenatal appointments but later delivered with traditional birth attendants, with some subsequently dying.

“We found we need to also improve the quality of care,” Adeyanju said, adding that family planning, transportation and financial protection were also critical areas requiring attention.

He said the FCT was the 34th state-level jurisdiction to implement the MAMII approach, adding that the initiative had been rolled out in 33 states over the past one and a half years.

Adeyanju said the Federal Government and its partners had developed state-specific plans based on the identified drivers of maternal and newborn mortality.

He also said the initiative had recorded a 17 per cent reduction in maternal mortality in the areas covered by its interventions in less than two years.

The national coordinator urged pregnant women to enrol in health insurance schemes to reduce financial barriers to accessing care, adding that eligible beneficiaries could access emergency obstetric services, including Caesarean sections, under the relevant arrangements.

He further disclosed that emergency transportation interventions were being implemented in some areas to enable pregnant women to reach health facilities when complications arise.

Adeyanju urged pregnant women to seek skilled medical care and deliver in health facilities, stressing that delays in seeking appropriate care could worsen otherwise preventable complications.

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Also speaking, the FCT Mandate Secretary, Dr Dolapo Fasawe, said the newly inaugurated task force would have a broad responsibility covering pregnant women, healthcare facilities and communities.

She said the task force would not be time-bound, as its mandate would continue for as long as women continued to give birth in the FCT.

Fasawe said, “As long as women are giving birth in the FCT, as long as we’re here, your role will continue. It is not time-bound.”

She charged members of the task force to hold government officials, healthcare facilities, and even the national MAMII coordinator accountable for implementing the agreed interventions.

“You can hold the government accountable and hold even the national coordinator accountable. Everything that is in this book, your role is to ensure that we do,” she said.

Fasawe directed members of the task force to study the MAMII operational document and develop a work plan for implementation.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the FCT Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr Dan Gadanma, said the activation of MAMII in the FCT was necessary despite the territory having a comparatively lower maternal mortality burden than some other parts of the country.

He said the FCT administration considered every maternal death unacceptable and had therefore embraced the initiative.

Gadanma said the four-day workshop and community engagement had enabled stakeholders to develop interventions based on the experiences of women and other community members.

“Based on those interactions, we have developed together, collectively, the interventions that are going to be implemented in the next months and years to come to ensure that maternal mortality becomes a thing of the past,” he said.

One of the beneficiaries of the MAMII intervention, Augustina Kalu, also shared her experience, saying the initiative helped her family settle her medical bills after she developed complications following childbirth.

Kalu said she had been worried about how the bills would be paid until her husband informed her that the intervention had taken responsibility for them.

“I was very excited when my husband came to the hospital and told me that they had taken charge of our bills because the sickness came unknowingly,” she said.

She said she had received treatment, including oxygen, at the National Hospital before she was discharged.

Kalu expressed gratitude to the government and partners supporting the initiative, praying that the intervention would continue to assist women facing similar challenges.