The Kwara State Government, in collaboration with UNICEF, has trained 60 secondary healthcare providers on Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEMONC).

The initiative is part of the European Union's Strengthening Access to Reproductive and Adolescent Health (EU-SARAH) programme, as reported by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Prof. Abiodun Adeniran, Lead Facilitator and Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), revealed that the training was a 14-day intensive course for healthcare workers from all 16 Local Government Areas (LGAs). He stated that the programme aims to reduce maternal mortality rates in the state.

Highlighting global statistics, Prof. Adeniran noted that between 300,000 and 500,000 women die annually from pregnancy-related complications worldwide.

"These complications often present as emergencies, and how we manage them determines whether mothers survive," he added, stressing that 90% of such deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa.

He said that Nigeria as part of the sub-Saharan country share in this burden of deaths and stressed the need to build capacity of healthcare workers in order to tackle emergencies effectively.

Adeniran also revealed that lots of newborn babies die before 24 hours of birth as a result of not being able to breathe properly, some with infections or jaundice.

According to him, the healthcare workers are being trained on how to improve the survival rate of the infants as well as the mothers.

Also speaking, Dr Fatai Olaniyi, a Consultant Obstetrician and a co-Facilitator at the training, explained that the high maternal mortality rate showed that all stakeholders must put more efforts to reduce it in the country.

Olaniyi while commending Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara, advised that the initiative be sustained through provision of life saving tools in healthcare facilities.

In her remarks, the State EU-SARAH Programme Manager, Dr Kafayat Kofo, explained that the training aimed to enhance the capacity of health care providers rendering services to mothers during pregnancy and delivery.

According to her, the training will equip healthcare providers with the skills to manage obstetric emergencies, help to save lives and reduce the number of maternal deaths.

Kofo urge the participants to make judicious use of the life-saving training, which was expected to reduce the morbidity rate of pregnant mothers.

(NAN)