Stakeholders call for integration to reduce maternal mortality

Stakeholders in the health sector have called for the integration of the public and private sectors to reduce maternal mortality, noting that such an integration is an effective strategy for reducing the incidence in the country.

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The recommendation was made during a webinar organized on Tuesday by the Nigeria Health Watch with funding from ‘MSD for Mothers’,themed, “Building Resilient Maternal Health Systematically through Private Sector Integration”.

The initiative of MSD for mothers, which is worth US$ 650 million, helps to create a world where no woman has to die while giving life.

According to reports, the webinar provided an avenue for stakeholders to advocate to policy-makers on the importance of private sector integration in Nigeria’s mixed health systems.

The webinar was also to provide actionable steps to effectively engage the private sector to build resilient and sustainable maternal health systems that deliver quality maternal healthcare services in the country.

The president of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, Dr. Pamela Ajayi, said that progress can be made when the private and public sectors work together to improve health outcomes in the country.

She added that there was a need to invest in health systems in the country, but for this to work, there must be alignment and incentives to encourage collaboration.

According to her, the private sector broadly covers maternal health in the country, accounting for 60 to 70 per cent of services.

She said that the maternity period was supposed to be a time of joy, not anxiety.

“The private sector has a crucial role in improving maternal health outcomes in Nigeria,” Dr. Ajayi added.

According to the Acting Unit Head, Health Systems Governance and Policy, World Health Organisation, Mr. David Clarke, the Country Connector for Private Sector in Health has recorded impact in ensuring that governments achieve Universal Health Coverage, and health security for their population by harnessing the public and private health sector’s collective national expertise and resources.

Clarke also reaffirmed the commitment of the WHO Country Connector to evolve from helping countries with COVID-19 support, to assisting governments to improve on their capacities to improve health systems and outcomes.

On her part, the former Commissioner for Health, Kaduna State, Dr. Amina Mohammad Baloni, said the state government looked into private sector integration with a framework of improving the supply chain of medicines and its accessibility to benefit people living in hard-to-reach areas.

“When we talk about accessing private care in Nigeria, most citizens do this through Patent and Proprietary Medine Vendors (PPMVs),” she said.

Baloni also added that there was a need to employ quality standards across the private and public sectors to ensure efficient health delivery for all in the country.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer, Delta State Contributory Health Commission, Dr. Ben Nkechika, said that there was a need for participatory cooperation among stakeholders to improve the health outcomes of Nigerians.

He said that a resilient healthcare system was one in which the patient can access the healthcare they need when they needed it, without substantial financial catastrophe.

For Mr. Temitayo Erogbogbo, Global Advocacy Director, MSD for Mothers, there is an urgent need to integrate the private sector to aid the financing of health systems and improve the health outcomes of Nigerians.

He said that a lot of attention has not been given to the quality of care and the outcomes, and that has to change in the country.

He also noted that quality matters as the country was losing more people through poor quality and lack of access to care across the country.

The Managing Director, Nigeria Health Watch, Mrs. Vivianne Ihekweazu, said strengthening maternal health in the country remains a challenge, despite the fact that the country continues to account for a quarter of the global maternal deaths, according to a recent report.

“These are mothers, sisters and friends who should not be dying while giving birth in the country,” she added.

Ihekweazu said if the country were to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.1, there was a lot of work for it to do to promote maternal health outcomes in the country.

Wumi/Punch