ABIA GOVT VOWS TO ARREST TRADITIONAL HEALTH ATTENDANTS AND RESIDENTS USING TRADITIONAL BIRTH ATTENDANTS. (PHOTO).

 Abia Govt Vows To Arrest traditional health attendants and  Residents Using Traditional Birth Attendants

The Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti has warned that the government plans to arrest anyone patronizing traditional birth attendants, citing Nigeria’s contribution to 29 per cent of maternal mortality worldwide.

Speaking on Saturday during the commissioning of two primary health centers in Bende local government, the Governor, resented by the commissioner for health, Prof. Enoch Ogbonnaya said that traditional birth attendants lack the requisite skills for safety in the handling of maternal and child health care services.

“One of the major causes of maternal mortality is delivery by unskilled workers. And that includes traditional birth attendants who have not been trained and certified to provide that level of healthcare service, They therefore do not have the requisite skills for safety in the handling of maternal and child health care services,” 

He emphasized that the two functionalized primary health centers bring the total to 42, and said that the remaining eight PHCs are expected to be completed within the next week.

“The remaining 8 PHCs will be done in the next one week to complete the 50 PHCs billed to be functionalized this September, in the first phase of the functionalization programme of the ‘Project Ekwueme,” 

Governor Otti, represented by the commissioner for health, emphasized that his government is committed to providing world-class healthcare infrastructure,

“You have auto-analysers, incubators in the laboratory, oxygen cylinders and oxygen delivery devices, including state-of-the-art delivery rooms equipped with first-rate delivery beds and life-support equipment, for both the mother and the child,” 

The Executive Secretary of the Abia State Primary Healthcare Development Agency and the Executive Secretary of the Abia State Health Insurance Agency urged the people to own the project and take advantage of the Abia State Basic Health fund.