Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has urged the federal and state governments to make free medical care available to poor pregnant women across the country. He said this is the most effective way to reduce the high number of mothers and babies dying during childbirth in Nigeria.
Falana made this call in a statement on Sunday as Chairman of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB). He pointed to recent efforts by the government to reduce maternal deaths.
He recalled that in November last year, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, announced that the government would provide free caesarean sections for women who need them. This was under the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative.
Falana also mentioned that in April this year, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) confirmed it had started offering free caesarean sections in more than 100 hospitals across the country.
According to him, the NHIA Director-General, Kelechi Ohiri, explained that the intervention was being carried out through the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care Programme.
Falana said these initiatives showed the government’s seriousness about reducing deaths of mothers and newborns. However, he stressed that the programme must be expanded to reach all poor pregnant women across Nigeria.
He concluded by saying: “If the federal, state, and FCT governments extend this programme to every indigent pregnant woman, then maternal and infant deaths can be reduced to the lowest possible level in Nigeria.”
