Minister commends Coca Cola Nigerias Safe Birth Initiative
News & Trends •
by vivian ihechu3 the official launch of the safe birth initiative and inauguration of the first set of sbi equipment in the country would be performed by the minister of health prof. isaac adewole at the national hospital in abuja next week1 adewole represented by dr adedamola dada chief medical director federal medical centre fmc ebutte-meta lagos said this at a stakeholders workshop on saturday in lagos with theme enabling safe birth in nigeria1 the event was organised by the sbi sponsored by coca-cola in partnership with the federal ministry of health the office of the senior special assistant to the president on sustainable development goals and an ngo medshare international inc1 the news agency of nigeria nan reports that according to the national demography and health survey ndhs 2013 nigeria loses as many as 576 women per 100000 childbirths1 also the country records 37 newborn deaths per 1000 live births placing the country among the worst ratios for both maternal and newborn deaths globally1 consequently the safe birth initiative aims to support the attainment of the sdg targets on maternal and newborn deaths reduction1 it focuses on strengthening the capacity of selected public hospitals through procurement of vital maternal and neonatal medical equipment and supplies1 it also focuses on training biomedical engineering technicians to improve equipment maintenance and uptime and reactivating a large stock of abandoned medical equipment wasting away in public hospitals1 adewole said we have always believed that our healthcare would improve with active collaboration and partnership from the private sector1 the safe birth initiative is a good example of such a partnership1 meticulous planning and identification of the needs of the beneficiary hospitals have been carried out with active involvement of partners and beneficiaries1 we commend our partners on this programme coca-cola the sdg office medshare international and the engineering world health and use this opportunity to call on other private sector players to join us in this battle to free our nation from diseases and major challenges in maternal and childhood health he said1 also the senior special assistant to the president on sdgs princess adejoke orelope-adefulire said that the coca-cola safe birth initiative is working toward the third sustainable development goal health and wellbeing for all including our mothers and our children1 orelope-adefulire represented by dr bala yusuf said this partnership is a classic example of what we can do when we combine our expertise and resources in support of the 2030 sdg agenda1 we hope this event will strengthen our resolve to continue to work together as policy makers development practitioners academics but more importantly as concerned citizens in support of the 2030 agenda of the sustainable development goals she said1 the minister of health prof. isaac adewole has commended coca cola nigerias safe birth initiative sbi saying it is a laudable project toward achieving reduction in the countrys high maternal mortality indices1 according to him in addition to completing the first batch of the biomedical engineering technicians training the consignment of equipment and supplies required for the national hospital abuja has been fully delivered1 the consignments for federal medical centres in ebute-metta and owerri and general hospital alimosho lagos are scheduled to arrive in the coming weeks1 the needs assessments are ongoing at six other approved hospitals to determine their specific needs he said1 ugorji said that coca-colas commitment goes beyond donating equipment1 through the sbi the company hopes to promote effective maintenance culture by empowering biomedical engineering technicians with the knowledge skills tools and confidence to take responsibility for ensuring maximum uptime for the new equipment1 it also aims to empower them on reactivation of abandoned biomedical equipment in the target hospitals1 there is a limit to what our doctors and nurses can do with just their skills and passion in the absence of the vital life-saving equipment required for effective diagnosis testing and treatment ugorji said1 nan reports that the workshop also marked the completion of the maiden sbi capacity training for 20 biomedical engineering technicians from 10 leading medical institutions across the country1 the institutions comprise university hospitals federal medical centres and general hospitals1 the two-week training was conducted by us-based engineering world health ewh at the school of biomedical engineering lagos university teaching hospital1 the workshop also had a panel discussion session that shed light on the challenges of maternal and newborn healthcare in the country the national sdg targets on maternal and child health1 it also discussed the measures government is taking to meet these targets as well as how the sbi will support these measures1 the discussants included prof. chinyere ezeaka past president nigerian society of neonatal medicine dada bala and ugorji1 others present were adesuwa onyenokwe editor todays woman prof. carmen walker chief operating officer nigeria bmet programme engineering world health and mr eben amstrong director of biomedical engineering training and technical service medshare international1 in his remarks mr clem ugorji the public affairs and communications director for coca-cola west africa shared highlights of the sbi rationale and implementation plan1