Pathfinder, CCSI advocate improving maternal health

By Doris Obinna

Stakeholders in the health sector have again harped on the need for collaborative advocacy toward achieving sustainable progress in maternal health across Nigeria.

The call was made recently during a webinar organized by Pathfinder International in partnership with the Center for Communication and Social Impact (CCSI) to create awareness about the critical issues of maternal health.

Pathfinder Country Director, Amina Aminu Dorayi, said: “We all know that maternal health is a cornerstone for public health and also improves outcomes to ensure that everyone has access to quality care to enable families and communities to live the lives they deserve.

“We believe that collaboration among government agencies and healthcare providers is very crucial to the work that we do, and the community is also critical to achieving sustainable progress on maternal health.”

Executive Director, CCSI, Mrs. Babafunke Fagbemi, said: “The project gives CCSI the opportunity to shape the advocacy agenda through the SMART methodology to achieve the desired results.

“The project also encourages existing policies that support women’s health and, by the way, showcases these efforts in the spotlight, which poses an opportunity to improve maternal health in Nigeria.”

Head, Family Health and Nutrition Directorate, Ministry of Health, Lagos State, Dr. Folashade Oludara, identified challenges to maternal health in the state, including a growing population against overstretched facilities, staff apathy from multitasking, financial constraints, medical litigation and poor documentation:

“If adopted, partner support, women’s enrolment in the health scheme, the use of volunteers, the updating of health worker skills and the domestication of motherhood guidelines could bridge some of the aforesaid gaps.”

Director, Public Health and Disease Control, Ministry of Health, Kano State, Dr. Imam Wada Bello, said a lack of dedicated funding for maternal health was one of the factors responsible for the high maternal mortality rate in the state:

“Government reluctance to publicly share budget data was also a major challenge, therefore recommending community-based monitoring and planning, budget tracking and analysis, and maternal death audits as accountability mechanisms to yield the desired result.

“Strategic advocacy is also a crucial means of improving maternal health. We also need increased resource allocation for maternal health programs and to ensure funds are utilized to improve outcomes.”

Public Relations Officer, Kano State-Led Accountability Mechanism (KanSLAM), Salisu Yusuf, advocated policy reforms for supportive maternal health policies: “Such reform would address the challenges of inadequate facilities and equipment, a shortage of trained healthcare professionals, and social-economic factors such as poverty, education and cultural barriers.”