REVELATION that as many as 608 women, out of every 100,000, die during and after childbirth, or as a result of their pregnancy, is alarming indeed, and should be of serious concern to all stakeholders, especially the government. Such information tends to put the lie on official claim to advances in health care delivery. The figures declared on child and maternal mortality at a recent workshop by the Women Health and Action Research Centre (WHARCH) not only points to decimation of human resources, it also puts at risk the attainment of MDG-5, a global Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) initiative aimed at reducing maternal mortality by 75 per cent by the year 2015.Participants at the workshop accused the government of insensitivity to the problems of women and a lack of appropriate policies and practices relating to infection control in maternal units, using Edo State as a peg. Incidentally, the ailing health sector is a reflection of the decline in all other sectors of national life, including the economy that has continuously been manipulated to the extent that it dehumanises the people. The totality of regression in the land constitutes a bar to the country's march to greatness, in spite of its enormous resources.The programme director of, WHARCH, Professor Friday Okonofua had raised concerns at the workshop on 'Infection control practices in delivery care facilities in Edo State', saying Nigeria ranked second only to India in maternal deaths during pregnancy every year. The estimated mortality rate is 608 per 100,000 deliveries. According to reports, the country is also one of six that accounts for up to 50 per cent of global maternal deaths, with local medical causes revealing 'post-partum hemorrhage (25 per cent), pregnancy hypertension (15 per cent) and post-delivery infections'.The research centre, an organization committed to sexual and reproductive health and social wellbeing of women and adolescents, should know. With global advances in science and technology, and the human resources available to the country, the casualty rate is inexcusable, and amounts to preventable loss of human capital. The observations should serve as a beckon to government, to improve service delivery and save our womenfolk.For the country's status, medical experts blame lack of prioritisation of maternal health, the disconnect between primary and tertiary health care providers, and decline in secondary health centres across the country. The proffered solution, among others, is the institution of infection control committees in delivery units - 'a procedure for regular auditing of cases of maternal deaths and near-miss cases of puerperal sepsis'.Similarly, a global health workers' index also rated Nigeria as one of the countries with high infant mortality. International Charity Save the Children's index listed the country, alongside Chad, Somalia, Laos and Ethiopia, as the worst among the 161 rated on child care, a report the Health Minister, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu faulted, arguing that the rating failed to consider various government interventions that had caused significant reduction in infant and child mortality in the country, and that the exercise was based on a 2008 demographic health survey on infant and under-five mortality. Prof. Chukwu cited the government's Midwives Services Scheme (MSS) initiative, saying between 2003 and 2008, the country witnessed a 30 per cent reduction in maternal mortality ratio.The bottom line is that the masses of Nigerians have suffered from abysmal health care delivery, whether in 2008 or 2011. The country cannot boast of significant changes yet, despite the establishment of the National Hospital, Abuja, in addition to the teaching and specialist hospitals. This much is buttressed by constant flocking of government officials to foreign clinics.One of the problems of the sector is inadequate funding of medical establishments by government at both federal and state levels, thus making government hospitals still to be no more than 'mere consulting clinics'. Government should act now to save the sagging profile of public medical institutions in the interest of its citizens. A healthy nation is a wealthy nation. The authorities should seek to strike a balance between policy formulation and implementation, particularly to reverse brain drain in the health sector.Health care can still be restored if government gets its bearing right again. The minister spoke about government's commitment to investing N4.1 trillion on a five-year rolling plan (2010-2015), anchored on the National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP), and based on the goals of the national health policy of 2004. The public expects that the grandiose talk about eight priority areas divided into eight goals, 33 objectives and 70 interventions under the NSHDP would not be mere window dressing.The minister has a duty to meet Nigerians' expectation. Women and children being particularly vulnerable, deserve due attention
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