The Kano State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating maternal mortality, rather than merely reducing it, as part of its broader efforts to revamp the healthcare sector.
The state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Yusuf stated this while addressing the Partners Coordination Forum (PCF) meeting in Kano.
Information Officer in the Ministry of Health, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said the Commissioner emphasised that the state government has undertaken significant renovations of healthcare facilities to improve maternal and neonatal care.
He added that the state government is concerned with the statistics that over 70% of women in the state do not patronage hospitals during delivery, but prefer home delivery by engaging services of the traditional birth attendants.
The commissioner said this is because expectant mothers in the state see delivery in their matrimonial rooms as safer than coming to hospitals where they have lost the confidence of getting proper medical attention.
“It is on that line that we were renovating our hospitals, and making our primary health facilities better. Our intention is to have at least one functional primary health facility in each ward of Kano state.
“In the last one and a half years, we have renovated several secondary healthcare facilities and awarded contracts for over 200 primary health centers,” Dr. Labaran stated, adding, “This aligns with our policy to enhance service delivery, particularly in maternal and child health.”
The commissioner added that that goal of the state “is to drop the menace to zero level. This is simple and achievable if we put our hands together, by Allah’s grace.
“We have the resources. We will get a lot of support from the federal government and the partners. All partners working towards crashing maternal mortality should key in into this project. Our goal is one project, one budget, one outcome,” Dr. Labaran added.
The commissioner further stressed the importance of accountability and transparency in health interventions, warning that the era of uncoordinated partner activities at the local government and facility levels was over.
