United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon?s recent three-day visit to Nigeria was primarily focused on promoting women and children?s health to ensure that the nation meets the 2015 Millennium Development Goals.
IT is only four years to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) date when most countries in the world are expected to record about 75 per cent reduction in areas marked by the United Nations as the most disturbing to attaining better condition of living and the race is becoming faster as the date approaches.
While the journey may be said to be bumpy for Nigeria in health areas and poverty reduction efforts, the visit of the United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to Nigeria, between May 22 and May 24, attested to the determination of the intercontinental body to ensuring that Nigeria makes appreciable efforts towards meeting the target.
The three-day visit focused on promoting women and children?s health. The visit which was the first visit of the UN Chief to the country, was in line with the provisions stated within the Secretary General?s Global Strategy for Women?s and Children?s Health, launched in September 2010 during the Special General Assembly on MDGs. The Global strategy based primarily on the need to fast-track actions towards the MDGs call on all partners (government and non-governments) to unite and take action through enhanced financing, strengthened policy and improved service delivery to women and children.
At the launch, Nigeria made significant commitments to improve women?s and children?s health through increased domestic financing; intensified implementation of its home grown MDG 5-year countdown strategy in line with the National Strategic Health Development Plan; improve data management to track progress in line with the National Health Results matrix; and to pursue collaborations with State and non-state actors. At the centre of the commitments being the drive to progress towards the achievement of the health related MDGs 4, 5 and 6 to reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases respectively.
The visit of the UN chief scribe, was scheduled to allow him witness first-hand the progress being made in Nigeria in improving women and children?s health, while also discussing key issues with government and its stakeholders. The composition of his delegation paid credence to the primary aim of his visit, as it included the Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Prof Babatunde Osotimehin, who was Nigeria?s former Minister of Health, the Senior Adviser to the UN Secretary General on MDGs, Mr. Jeffry Sachs and other senior advisers within his office.
While in Nigeria, the Secretary-General held series of consultations with leading personalities that included President Goodluck Jonathan; Executive Governors, organized under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors? Forum (NGF) with the delegation of Governors led by both the out-going and in-coming Chairmen of the NGF; Presidential Committee on MDGs, diplomatic community in Nigeria, traditional and religious leaders, the private sector and civil society organizations.
Highlights of the visit was the Secretary General?s visit and tour of two health facilities ? Maitama District hospital located within the city centre which is a secondary health facility and Dutse Makaranta Primary Health Care facility in Bwari Area Council of the Abuja FCT. The UN Chief also interacted with health workers, pregnant women attending antenatal care sessions, nursing mothers that brought their babies for routine immunization, a couple attending a family planning counseling session, women that had complicated labour and had received emergency obstetric care having been transferred through a referral system, etc. He also presented safe motherhood kits popularly known as ?mama kit? to pregnant women, immunized a baby with oral polio vaccine and indeed held babies while interacting with the teeming mothers that turned out in their numbers during the facility visits.
Speaking immediately after his meeting with the President, Mr. Ban commended Nigeria?s efforts to reduce maternal and child death rates and the President?s political will to address the MDGs. He equally commended the Executive Governors for progress made, including the Midwives Services Scheme, State-Initiated Community-based Health Insurance Scheme, the passage of the National Health Bill by both chambers of the National Assembly, and the on-going integration of MNCH services with AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and nutrition related services.
Another area that received kudos from the UN helmsman was Nigeria?s 95% progress in reducing transmission of wild polio virus cases. He also commended the governors for the Partnership Declaration on Health, Nigeria?s MDG Countdown Strategy and the robust results-oriented State Health Plans. He urged timely implementation and translation of all plans to concrete actions and measurable results.
At both facilities, Mr. Ban called on stakeholders to fight against the vaccine preventable and childhood killer diseases and promote maternal and sexual reproductive health services. He specifically called on traditional, religious and opinion leaders to continue to create awareness on the need for positive health actions, including seeking timely care and addressing socio-cultural issues.
The FCT Minister - Senator Bala Mohammed in his remarks during the UN SG?s visit to the health facilities said that Nigeria was a great beneficiary of the development assistance from the UN, particularly in support of interventions in the health sector. He gave assurances of government support. He commended UNFPA?s role in strengthening health facilities to provide the basic obstetrics care in rural settings; including Dutse Makaranta facility, which was visited by the Secretary-General and UNFPA boss, Prof Osotimehin.
The Minister also lauded UNFPA?s leadership in advocacy for the improved maternal health services, which contributed to government?s decision to provide free maternal health services in the FCT; provision of equipment and supplies, including mama kits and contraceptive commodities; capacity-building of health-care providers on lifesaving skills to enhance the quality of services delivered to women and children.
The Minister of Health, Prof C.O Onyebuchi Chukwu re-iterated progress made in Nigeria since the launch of the Global Strategy, which included the increase in the number of midwives deployed to health facilities from about 2,000 in 652 health facilities to 4,000 in 1,000 health facilities, all aimed at providing women with skilled attendance at birth.
In line with the Global Strategy, a group of five UN Agencies with mandates on health ? UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, WHO and World Bank ? known as the UNH4+, have already commenced concerted actions to support Nigeria in its drive to meet the MDGs by 2015. One of such actions was the mobilization of funds from the Canadian Government by the UNH4+ in support of maternal and newborn health services in Nigeria.
In his emotion laden speech at Dutse Makaranta, Ban Ki Moon said he sees himself as a member of rural community while taking the audience down memory lane on what he went through while growing up in a typical rural setting.
His words: ?Yesterday, I visited Maitama General Hospital and I am very pleased to visit this place, Dutse Makaranta. As you know, I was born in a very small village. When I was born in 1944, my mother gave birth just alone or maybe with a handful of few women in the village. There were no doctors or midwives. I was two years old when the Korean wars broke out. During the war, my mother just gave birth to another baby and two days after she gave birth to the baby, she had to walk for about seven kilometers.?
He continued: ?On many occasions I had to cook for the family. In those days, mothers had to wait for two to three years and hope whether their child will survive or not. What you see in my international passport does not show where I was born because my father was not sure whether I will live or not and that is what I see in many parts of Africa where we see thousands of women dying everyday because of pregnancy complications and about 32, 000 children die everyday because of preventable diseases. These things still happen after 67 years that I was born. I must admit that the government is sending thousands of midwives to health facilities and building more many general hospitals. There are thousands of nurses that are being trained and they are also helping these women and children. I saw three, four and five day old children in hospitals and saw how lucky and happy they are to be in good facilities compared to my days as a child.?
?The reason I am travelling to every part of Africa is to see what ordinary people go through because I am one of you. My predecessor in office, Kofi Annan is from Africa and must have experienced what I experienced, other Director Generals would have been born in Europe or others places but like Annan, I am committed to improving on this unacceptable situation,? he declared.
While acknowledging the current effort at eradicating polio in Nigeria which has climbed to about 95%, Ban Ki Moon urged religious leaders, local community leaders to educate their people not to be swayed by unfound rumours.
He submitted that religious leaders and civil society leaders must continue to work in harmony to raise awareness to save the mothers and children saying, ?this will make your society, our society a happy world for all.?
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