Dr Olusegun Mimiko, the former Governor of Ondo State, on Tuesday in Ilorin advocated free healthcare services for all pregnant women in the country.
Mimiko made the call while delivering a paper at the 7th Kola Olafimihan College of Health Sciences Endowment Lecture, the University of Ilorin.
The paper was entitled: “Sustainable Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality in Nigeria: My Experience”.
According to him, maternal and child healthcare have been recognised as cost effective interventions by the UN, World Health Organisation (WHO) and in Nigeria and the entry point to Universal Health Coverage.
“A society that does not recognise the vulnerability of a pregnant woman and therefore does not embrace any ameliorarive process is guilty of some form of violence against women,” he said.
He also observed that training local birth attendants would not save maternal lives in the country and should not be encouraged.
Mimiko said that traditional birth attendants should only refer pregnant women to public facilities but not to handle birth deliveries themselves.
He said that any sort of recognition to local birth attendants and every untrained hand “is like commuting Nigerian women to untimely deaths”.
The former governor, who is a medical practitioner said that local birth attendants “have no business in obstetrics”.
He said that the 2012 Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in Ondo State (CEMDOS) Report showed that over 90 per cent of maternal deaths were linked to mismanagement or delayed referrals by unskilled faith-based or traditional birth attendants.
Mimiko said that maternal mortality which had been on decline globally, had been on the rise in Nigeria from 545 per 100,000 live births in 2008 to 575 in 2014 (NDHS).
“WHO figure of 814 in 2015, an increase of 30 per cent over the 2010 figure of 630 even seems worse. As a matter of fact, we have graduated from being No. 2 globally to having the largest number of women dying from pregnancy related causes in 2015 -overtaking India.”
He said that sustainable strategies to reduce maternal mortality would include policy targeting maternal care, increased public health funding, elimination of financial barrier, strengthening of health system and sustained political will.
Mr Kayode Alabi, Kwara Deputy Governor said maternal death rate in Nigeria might be worse than thought of “as every single day, Nigeria loses about 2,300 children under the age of five and 145 women of childbearing age.”
He described the statistic as disturbing, saying Nigeria being the second largest contributor to the under-five and maternal mortality rate in the world, accounts for 14 per cent of the world’s maternal mortality deaths, “which is the highest in West and Central Africa”.
Alabi said infant mortality was a critical indicator of global development and decreasing the severity had been a challenge in low-income countries for decades in spite of the presence of effective interventions.
He observed that poverty had contributed to the dastardly statistics, adding that many, especially those in the rural areas due to low income and limited resources hardly have access to quality prenartal and postnartal.
According to him, report by World Health Organisation shows that 40 per cent of women in low income countries visit antenatal care units.
Earlier in his welcoming address, Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin said maternal mortality “is big problem that confounds medical experts and practitioners in Nigeria and beyond”.
“Report has it that Nigeria ranks second globally in number of maternal deaths.”
He said 20 per cent of all global maternal deaths occurred in Nigeria and that maternal mortality in Nigeria was over 800 per 100,000 births with every Nigerian woman having one in 22 lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum.
Prof. Olanrewaju Adedoyin, the Provost College of Health Sciences, University of Ilorin explained that late Dr Kola Olafimihan was a renowned Obstetrician and Gynaecologist who spent a good part of his life taking care of pregnant women.
He said that the late Olafimihan ran a private practice which he actively superintended over effectively and efficiently until his death.
“He will be remembered as a distinguished medical elder, medical icon and doctor of doctors, who left a legacy of standard medical practice which still exists till date,” he said.
The Provost expressed appreciation to the university and the college for resuscitating and ressurecting the legacy of Dr Olafimihan. NAN