Zamfara State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Aisha M.Z. Anka has expressed concern about the high risk of maternal deaths for over 950,000 women in the state.
She announced in Gusau, the state capital on Monday at the commencement of a five-day workshop aimed at preventing maternal deaths for health workers in the state.
The workshop was coordinated by the Health for Life and Development Foundation in partnership with the Zamfara State Ministry of Health and the Hospital Services Management Board, with assistance from the United Nations Population Fund.
In her address, the commissioner highlighted that Nigeria contributes to 14% of the global maternal deaths. She also emphasised that northern Nigeria, including Zamfara, is responsible for 70% of maternal deaths in the country.
Dr. Anka added that the 50 nurses and midwives who participated in the training were chosen from various health institutions across the state.
“The workshop signifies the government’s commitment to improving maternal health in the State. This training is aimed at ensuring the safe delivery of babies across all health facilities in the state.
“The participants were nurses and midwives selected from various medical institutions in the state who are in charge of labour rooms in the health facilities across the state,” she said.
“As we are all aware Gov. Dauda Lawal declared a state of emergency in the health sector and the state government embarked on a total renovation of health facilities across the state.
“This training is part of the government’s commitment to promoting capacity, manpower and skills of our health workers across the State.”
The Director of the Health for Life and Development Foundation, Dr. Abubakar Danladi, clarified that the workshop was arranged in response to the growing concern over maternal mortality in the state.
“This training is to ensure that our health workers are well equipped and trained to handle health cases related to maternal deaths. This is for the capacity building of our nurses and midwives on the management of direct and indirect causes of preventable maternal deaths.
“Part of the conditions of the training is for participants to cascade the skills they will acquire to their respective health facilities,” he stated.