The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, says the lack of a robust Emergency Medical Service (EMS) system is a major contributor to maternal and child mortality rates.
He said this on Wednesday in Abuja at the inauguration of a 20-member National Emergency Medical Treatment Committee (NEMTC).
He also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Rural Emergency Service and Maternal Transport (RESMAT) with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the National Malaria Eradication Programme (NMEP).
The inaugurated committee is to oversee the activities of the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) programme.
Quoting a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, Pate said that Nigeria accounts for a staggering one in every four global maternal deaths.
“This harrowing statistic implies that a pregnant woman in Nigeria faces a one in 21 chance of succumbing to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications, contrasting sharply with the global average of one in 190. Timely, appropriate, effective, and efficient emergency medical responses can reduce these abysmal statistics.”
He added that the provision of adequate pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency care and referral systems was essential. Ensuring financial risk protection for pregnant women in rural settings, where a majority of maternal mortalities are recorded, could help reduce the poor indices and improve health outcomes.
He noted that the Federal Government had streamlined the focus of NEMTC through NEMSAS by prioritizing emergency services for rural dwellers through a Rural Emergency Service and Maternal Transport (RESMAT), which is a subset of NEMSAS.
“RESMAT shall address the critical gaps in emergency healthcare services in low-economic settings by enhancing transportation infrastructure through private and public ambulance service providers to ensure timely access to these emergency services for rural dwellers. It will also serve to mitigate financial constraints experienced by pregnant women in low-economic settings during instances of obstetric emergencies, likewise providing transportation for these women at the time of delivery.”
While inaugurating the committee, Pate urged the members to carry out the task with all diligence. He added that EMS was integral to the administration’s goal for the health sector codified in the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
Chairman of the committee, Dr. Ismail Jibril, said that emergency medical response was the litmus test for the resilience of any healthcare system.
“It is a vital service that transcends specialties, demographics, and socioeconomic divides, a patient’s golden opportunity for survival. Regrettably, Nigeria has seen a concerning rise in trauma-related morbidity and mortality, driven by factors such as terrorism, civil unrest, accidents, and natural disasters.”
He, however, said that the EMS system would ensure life-saving care was available to all, regardless of their ability to pay.
Jibril assured of the committee’s preparedness to excel in the given task. He added that it would leverage its expertise and resources to build an emergency care system that served the Nigerian people, that was resilient, government-supported, and private-driven.
NEMSAS was commissioned for operations commencing in October 2022 in the FCT. It has become fully operational in nine states, while five states have established state EMS systems but have yet to commence operations fully. The Federal Government, however, is working towards rolling out the service in the remaining 22 states before the end of 2024.
