Zamfara State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Aisha M.Z. Anka, has raised alarm that over 950,000 women in the state are at high risk of maternal deaths.
The commissioner stated this in Gusau, the state capital on Monday during the opening ceremony of a five-day workshop on preventing maternal deaths for health workers in the state.
The workshop was organised by the Health for Life and Development Foundation in collaboration with the Zamfara State Ministry of Health and the Hospital Services Management Board, with support from the United Nations Population Fund.
According to the commissioner, Nigeria accounts for 14 per cent of the global maternal death. She further stated that northern Nigeria, including Zamfara, accounts for 70 per cent of maternal deaths in the country.
Dr. Anka further stated that the 50 nurses and midwives who attended the training, were selected from various health institutions across the state.
“The workshop signifies 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.”
Speaking earlier, the Director of Health for Life and Development Foundation, Dr Abubakar Danladi, explained that the workshop was organised based on the realization of an increase in 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.