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From Olanrewaju Lawal,Birnin Kebbi
The United States Agency for International Development and Integrated Health Program (USAID-IHP) have commenced the training of about 50 health workers across Kebbi state on the new guidelines released by the Federal Government on Maternal, Perinata and Child Death Surveillance and Response(MPCDSR) .
The USAID-IHP in collaboration with Mometum-Safe surgery in family planning and obstetrics, Federal Ministry of Health and Kebbi state, embarked on the exercise for 6 days to protect both the pregnant women, their unborn children as well as child under the age of five years.
While speaking with Sunday Sun on the importance of the training, the IHP Technical Lead Maternal and Newborn ,Health, Family Planning and Reproductive Health, from the Abuja country office, Dr. Jaiyeola Oyetunji explained that those trained would be divided into groups, and subsequently be dispatched to wards, and Local government areas to train other health workers on the new guidelines.
According to him, “ we are in Kebbi state because, the federal Ministry of Health, late last year revised the national Maternal ,Perinata and Newborn death surveillance and response guidelines, we used to have that. But last year, the Federal Ministry of Health now included the Child Component. So we now have maternal, Perinata and Child Death surveillance and Response.
“This document has three components, the guideline, the training manual and the tools. In addition, it’s also has the component of the drafted Legislation which have been passed already by the Senate, awaiting assent to by Mr. President.
“ So, we are here to train Masters trainers. We just finished that at the national level. So, what USAID-IHP is doing is to support the Federal Government to conduct a state training of trainers. So that we can have critical clusters’ of trainers who can go to health facilities at the Local government areas, ward levels to train health workers on how to use this new guideline, the tools .
“ So, the benefits of this guideline is to prevent unnecessary death of pregnant women during pregnancy, during labour and after and their babies as well as children under the age of 5.
“So, the ideal is that, when we know the cause of the death of anypregnant women, babies after deliveries, weected that the health workers will report the cases on the national platform provided where Response Community would immediately review the case every month. And every quarter of the year, at the state capital, the head of the health facilities would come together to review such case of mothers and children death so that, they could identified the immediate direct and indirect causes of their death.
‘” Therefore, in the future, we could be able to provide intervention into such cases that would prevent reoccurrences. This will enable our sisters, our wives; children would not be dying unnecessary because pregnancy is not a disease .”
He said” Just like I said, these set of participants are 50 now that we are training and out these 50, they would be divided into groups that would going to each local government in the state. They may be divided into five members in a group that would go to a local government to train health workers in the health facilities at the primary health level, secondary and even at the tertiary health facilities that we have in the state. So that, all the health workers would know about this new guideline.
“Therefore, they would be able to identifies those cases, reviews it, and reported those cases to the appropriate quarters.
He added that this would enable the LGA, State and National levels would designed action plan on various cases identified at various health facilities’
