Rotary International is strengthening efforts in Gombe State to eliminate preventable maternal and infant deaths through multi-layered interventions, including free medical outreach, community surveillance systems, and capacity-building.
Since the first quarter of 2025, the organisation has demonstrated strong commitment to the cause by sustaining collaboration with the state government to reduce maternal and infant mortality.
This has become visible through rolling out a series of community medical outreaches and grassroots capacity-building programmes across the state.
In Kaltungo Local Government Area, Rotary International held a Joint Community outreach in Lapandintai and Kale communities, providing free medical consultations, tests, treatments, and health education.
The exercise, which took place simultaneously in both locations, was led by the organisation’s National Coordinator and Country Director, Professor Emmanuel Adedolapo Lufadeju.
Before the outreach commenced, Professor Lufadeju paid homage to the Emir of Kaltungo, his Royal Highness Engineer Saleh Muhammed, where he explained Rotary’s interventions in Nigeria since 2013, focusing on ‘training health personnel,raising community awareness and delivering medical services at grassroots level.’
Professor Lufadeju commended Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya’s administration for rehabilitating primary healthcare centres across the state, but urged pregnant women to avoid home deliveries and instead utilise health facilities to ensure safe childbirth.
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He also acknowledged the role played by the Permanent Secretary of Local Government and Community Development, Muhammed Dantata Ndus, in securing Kaltungo’s inclusion in the outreach
The Emir of Kaltungo expressed appreciation to Rotary International for choosing his chiefdom, noting the benefits his people have enjoyed through its interventions.
He pledged continued support to ensure the success of Rotary’s programmes.Community leaders, including the village heads of Lapandintai and Kale Aya,also lauded the outreach, describing it as life-saving and timely.
Wider Coverage Across LGAs
In a parallel intervention, the state government, in partnership with Rotary, extended medical outreach to Gombe and Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Areas, where communities such as Yelenguruza and Kagarawal received free consultations, treatment, and sensitisation campaigns.
At Kagarawal alone, over 120 people turned out, with more than 70 per cent testing positive for malaria, most of them unaware they carried the disease.
According to Professor Lufadeju, “maternal and child deaths have significantly reduced in areas where Rotary has maintained consistent presence.
“We are introducing community-based maternal, prenatal, and child death surveillance to capture unrecorded deaths, especially from home deliveries, which account for over 65 per cent of births,” he said.
The Commissioner of Health, Dr. Habu Dahiru flagged off the outreach and praised Rotary for its sustained partnership, encouraging residents to make use of revitalised primary healthcare centres and not to wait for periodic outreach before seeking care.
“Pregnant women should attend antenatal clinics, and parents must immunise their children to prevent avoidable deaths,” Dr. Dahiru said.
Community Training
Beyond direct outreach, Rotary International is equipping Community Health Committees in Gombe with vital reporting skills to address preventable maternal deaths.
Through the three-day training in Gombe and Yamaltu-Deba LGAs, stakeholders, including Ward Development Committee chairmen, primary healthcare officials, and staff of the National Population Commission, were trained in Community Maternal Perinatal Child Death Surveillance and Response (CMPDSR).
Professor Lufadeju explained that “CMPDSR involves systematic data collection and response strategies to prevent future deaths.
He said the committees would now be responsible for documenting maternal and perinatal deaths, investigating causes through verbal autopsies, and taking corrective measures.
He highlighted the “three delays” that often cost lives: late decision-making at home, transportation challenges, and the readiness of hospitals to handle complications.
Chairman of the CMPDSR Committee, Dr.Garba Mohammed listed obstetric haemorrhage,infections, eclampsia, obstructed labour, and unsafe abortions as the leading causes of maternal mortality in Gombe He noted that most are preventable with timely care.
Community Leaders Endorsement
Traditional and political leaders have also pledged support for Rotary’s initiative.
The District Head of Wajari, Yamaltu-Deba LGA, Ibrahim Adamu, called for more sensitisation, stressing that neglect by husbands often endangers the health of pregnant women.
“When your wife is pregnant, you must show affection and provide the necessary support. Lack of care is part of the problem,”he said.
Similarly, the Chairman of Gombe Local Government Area and ALGON Chairman in the state, Mr Sani Ahmed Haruna, described Rotary’s interventions as “highly impactful.” He urged community health workers to take full ownership in order to sustain the gains.