Nasarawa, SFH associate to deal with baby, maternal mortality

The Society for Family Health has partnered with the Nasarawa State Government to tackle child and maternal mortality across the 13 local government areas of the state.

The government had in February launched an action plan on food and nutrition due to the high burden of child and maternal mortality in the state.

The Deputy Team Lead of the Society for Family Health’s Delivering Innovation for Self Care project, Mopelola Raje, lamented that many women in the state had neglected themselves for a long period due to societal challenges.

Raje stated this on Friday at the 2024 International Women’s Day celebration in the Karu Local Government Area of the state, tagged ‘Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress’.

She, however, urged women to be self-reliant in order to have adequate resources to attend to their health needs at all times.

She said, “The Society for Family Health DISC project is concerned about the numerous health challenges that women are going through in the country, that is why we are here in Nasarawa State today (Friday) to sensitise them on how they can improve on their reproductive health and general well-being.

“The essence of self-care is to ensure that women have more autonomy over their sexual and reproductive health. It also allows them to decide when they want to get pregnant.

“Self-care also helps to decongest our health care facilities, reduce waiting times for patients, cut savings on transportation, and reduce workload for health care providers, among other benefits,.”

On her part, the representative of the state Ministry of Health, Salomi Aya, assured all of the ministry’s commitment to continue to support women in a bid to tackle child and maternal mortality in the state.

“I want to see that outside what we are celebrating today, we are challenged to address the issues of child and maternal mortality, and all other reproductive issues that women are facing. 

“The ministry will be willing to give all the necessary support to healthcare providers so that collectively, we will be able to improve women’s reproductive health and tackle other health issues that had been a source of concern to them,” she said.