No fewer than 5,000 women and newborns have benefited from the Federal Government’s free emergency healthcare programme in Bauchi State in the last three years.
Dr Hassan Shu’aibu, State Focal Person for the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) programme, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Bauchi.
CEmONC is part of the Federal Government’s health sector reforms, implemented through the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
The programme aims to improve access to life-saving emergency care for pregnant women and newborns.
Shu’aibu said the programme had been implemented in eight health facilities across Bauchi State since its inception in November 2023.
He listed the facilities as Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi; Federal Medical Centre, Misau; Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Azare; and the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Ningi.
Others include Bauchi, Itas/Gadau, Toro and Zaki General Hospitals, as well as Ni’ima Consultancy Clinic, a private hospital in Bauchi.
According to Shu’aibu, plans are underway to expand the services to additional facilities, including private and faith-based health institutions in the state.
“The services covered under the programme include life-saving medicines, blood transfusions, Caesarean sections (CS) and treatment for convulsions associated with pregnancy complications,” he said.
He said the programme provided access to essential emergency obstetric and newborn care without imposing the financial burden of treatment on vulnerable families.
Shu’aibu added that the intervention was designed to save lives, reduce maternal and newborn deaths, and protect families from healthcare expenses.
Also, Dr Ashiru Adamu, Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) in Bauchi, said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had provided medical equipment and other healthcare supplies worth N10 billion to the state.
Adamu said 76 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) had also been renovated across the state.
He said the interventions included the introduction of an emergency transportation system and the deployment of 15 rural ambulances and six functional compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered ambulances to improve access to quality healthcare services.
The coordinator also disclosed that a radiodiagnostic centre had been inaugurated at ATBUTH.
On healthcare delivery reforms, Adamu said the Federal Government planned to work with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to improve access to essential services through medical outreach programmes.
He said the proposed incentive framework would support outreach services in hard-to-reach communities, focusing on antenatal care, nutrition, immunisation, and the prevention and treatment of malaria and pneumonia.
“We also have incentive reforms under which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed to provide financial incentives,” he said.
Adamu said the framework would support the engagement of skilled birth attendants and provide funding for minor repairs in primary healthcare facilities.
He said the SWAp recruitment exercise, undertaken through an agreement between the Bauchi State Government and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), was aimed at addressing the shortage of health personnel.
He added that the state government had so far recruited about 700 health workers under the initiative.
Some beneficiaries praised the programme, describing it as life-saving, particularly for families unable to afford emergency medical treatment.
Mr Musa Inuwa, whose wife benefited from the programme, said the intervention enabled her to receive emergency treatment and deliver safely without out-of-pocket expenses.
Inuwa said his wife developed high blood pressure during pregnancy and required a Caesarean section, but he could not afford the cost.
“I had planned for her to have a normal delivery, as she had done in previous pregnancies, but complications developed during this pregnancy.
“I did not have enough money to pay for the surgery. The programme helped my wife and baby receive the care they needed without my family having to bear the cost,” he said.
Mrs Binta Ibrahim, another beneficiary, described the intervention as timely, adding that it had helped women facing financial difficulties in accessing essential maternal healthcare.
Ibrahim commended the Federal Government for the initiative, which aims to reduce maternal and newborn deaths and improve access to healthcare services.
Editorial notes:
I shortened the headline while retaining the key figure and location.
I corrected grammar, punctuation, sentence structure and inconsistent capitalisation.
I standardised the name of the state focal person as Shu’aibu throughout, based on the first reference. Please verify the spelling against the original interview.
The original copy refers to the focal person as Sambo in two places. I changed these to Shu’aibu for consistency; please confirm that these references concern the same person.
The report says the programme began in November 2023 but describes the beneficiaries as having received support “in the last three years.” Verify the reporting period and figures before publication.
There is a numerical inconsistency: the report says the programme operates in eight facilities, but the listed institutions appear to total nine. Please confirm the number of participating facilities.
