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From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha
To help stem the tide of maternal/child mortality in the area, a non-governmental organisation, Anambra State Women Association, Southern California (ANSWA-SC) has donated medical equipment to some selected primary healthcare centres in Anambra State.
According to an April 2024 Report by the World Health Organisation (WHO), “Almost 95 per cent of all maternal deaths occurred in low and lower-middle-income countries in 2020.” The report said Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia accounted for around 87 per cent (253 000) of the estimated global maternal deaths in 2020. Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounted for around 70 per cent of maternal deaths (202 000)”.
Maternal mortality refers to the death of a woman while pregnant, due to complications during labour or following childbirth
President of the ANSWA-SC, Mrs Nne Nne Bosah who led the delegation to make the presentation at Edoji Primary Healthcare Centre, Uruagu, Nnewi, Anambra State said the intervention, which was worth N30 million, was to enhance the operational capacity of the Primary Healthcare Centres in rural areas.
She disclosed that the group thought it wise to donate to the primary health centres which are closer to the people at the grassroots for them to benefit, noting that not everybody will have the time and resources to go to the secondary and tertiary hospitals in the city.
She made it clear that the funding for the project did not involve any government support but solely from individual contributions of members who act like sisters.
“We’ve been doing this for some time now. In the year 2023, we did this in four local government areas, Oyi, Idemili North, Anaocha and Anambra East. This year, we increased it to six local government areas. We looked at the pictures, images and stories of women dying during childbirth and even losing their babies in the process and we decided to bridge the gap in this mother-child mortality rate by intervening in this area.
“We said we have to help our sisters back home, no matter what the situation may be. We don’t have stupendous wealth but we have a heart that cares and we are concerned about their wellbeing and that’s why we are doing this” she stated.
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Items donated included hospital beds, delivery couch, delivery set, Accu-chek meter and strips, lancets, sphygmomanometer, foetal stethoscope, blood pressure monitor and batteries.
She said the target is to reach the entire 21 local government areas in the state and the primary healthcare domiciled in the communities and villages.
Mrs Bosah maintained that the items donated are for community use. She charged the community to take ownership of the items and ensure its safety and sustainability.
Executive Secretary/CEO, Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Chisom Uchem while receiving the donated items said such gesture is what Governor Chukwuma Soludo has been looking forward to in the think-home philosophy mantra, knowing that government cannot do everything alone.
“You don’t live here but you are concerned and thinking on how our people can have better healthcare. Mr Governor appreciates all these and he wants me to tell you that Anambra is for all of us.
“Anyone who comes into this facility and is attended to with any of these items donated here will remember your good gesture and the blessings will keep resting on you. In fact, children yet unborn will also benefit from this and this your noble gesture will be on record in the annals of history.”
Obi of Edoji community, Chief Godwin Ndubuizu expressed gratitude for the noble gesture of the Anambra women group in Diaspora, noting that their intervention will spur a new and renewed level of patronage of the health centre by the natives.
“My heart is gladdened by this gesture, more so as it is happening during my time and that I’m alive to witness this. I believe that with this intervention now, we are in for a boom,” he said.
