Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, says the state government has concluded plans to provide toll-free lines dedicated to attending to urgent issues pertaining to pregnant women and nursing mothers.
Fashola said government did this in order to “step up the fight” against high rate of maternal and child mortality.
She spoke at a town hall meeting on Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction at the Oshodi-Isolo Local Developent Council Secretariat on Thursday.
Fashola expressed optimism that the lines would go a long way to reduce the incidence of maternal mortality especially at the grassroots level.
She said, “The statistics that show Nigeria as one of the five countries that account for the high mortality rate across the world are worrisome. All hands must be on deck for the nation to exit that list.
“This is a situation that I am personally interested in ensuring that we do not only talk of reducing but totally eradicating-maternal and child mortality.
“Here in Lagos, we only want to be associated with things that win awards, we don’t want things that cause pain.”
Fashola urged Lagosians to patronise public health centres, saying the planned reduction in mother and child mortality would not be achieved if the PHCs were not patronised.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr Yewande Adeshina, explained that tertiary health care centres such as the teaching hospitals were like secondary schools and universities which a student could not attend without passing through the primary school first.
Adeshina said three doctors each were recruited to work at PHCs in local council areas in addition to those already on ground.
Earlier, State commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed, urged residents to see health care facilities in their areas as their personal possessions.
A member of the state House of Assembly, Mrs Funmilayo Tejuoso, advised pregnant women who patronise traditional birth attendants to also register at PHCs in the eventuality of complications.
Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, while encouraging pregnant women to access the PHCs nearest to them, said government had commenced the upgrading of PHCs in each of the 57 local governments and local council development areas as flagship healthcare centres to cater for maternal and child issues.
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