Kano State Government said it is committed to implementing the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII) as part of its commitment crash maternal and neonatal deaths in the State.
The State Government disclosed this after receiving a document tagged “The MAMII roadmap” at the end of a 5-day workshop organized for health experts under the State Ministry of Health, with coordinating support of international donor agencies to crash maternal and newborn child mortality.
In the document, health experts provide solutions on ways to address the increasing number of deaths during and after childbirth in public facilities.
According to them, solar-powered tricycles should be provided in rural areas to provide 24/7 emergency transport for pregnant women, just as they need a functional ambulance service and well-equipped emergency wards.
Another solution in the document is 24/7 service in the over 900 PHCs and Health Post, as well as the need for more trained health workers to operate around the clock.
Responding on behalf of the government, the Permanent Secretary, Kano State Ministry of Health, Pharm. Aminu Bashir expressed optimism that the government would implement the document.
According to him, the engagement program has enabled a deep dive into the root causes of the State’s high mortality in maternal and newborn deaths in the state.
Bashir believed addressing the monster in the house was not the sole responsibility of the state government alone, therefore sought the concerted support of partners and the Federal Government to crash the menace in Kano.
Bashir said, “The state Government will collaborate with relevant ministries to improve ambulance services as well as access roads to hospitals across the state”.
Bashir also said, “State Government has pledged to address bottlenecks around emergency response about maternal and neonatal mortality in the State”.
Also speaking, the National Coordinator of, the MAMII program, Dr Doyin Adeyanju, explained the co-created content specifically designed for Kano and dissected challenges on access to facilitate thematic areas.
Adeyanju believes that with the commitment of the Kano government to the holistic implementation of the document, “there would not be any reason for the pregnancy to turn to the death sentence”.
Adeyanju expressed optimism that “with the commitment of the Kano government to the holistic implementation of the document, there would not be any reason for the pregnancy to turn to the death sentence across 18 prioritized MAMII LGAs”.
On his part, the States Engagement and Governance Lead, Dr Ashiru Adamu Abubakar, revealed that “172 LGAs currently bear about 55% of the burden of Maternal Mortality in the country and Kano State alone, has 18 out of those 172 LGAs contributing to this menace”.
Dr. Ashiru also expressed optimism that if adopted “It will crash the avoidable deaths across 18 prioritise MAMII LGAs in Kano”.
