By Emmanuel Enebeli
ASABA/Nigeria: The Delta State Government has reiterated its commitment at reducing the high rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria and the State in particular through partnership with donor agencies.
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nicholas Azinge stated this in Asaba when the members of ‘The Challenge Initiative’ (TCI), Abuja paid him a courtesy visit.
Dr. Azinge while welcoming the Team to Asaba expressed the State’s interest in pursuing the goal of ‘The Challenge Initiative’, which include the scaling up of proven family planning interventions in the State.
Describing the high maternal mortality rate as unacceptable, the Commissioner stated that increased Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) could be achieved and sustained with the necessary support which the Ministry had deployed.
This was re-echoed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Minnie Oseji in a separate event, when she granted audience to the Team in her office, saying the capacity building would be of great benefit to Staff in the Ministry.
Earlier, Dr Lekan Ajijola, Technical Advisor, Capacity Strengthening, The Challenge Initiative (TCI), Nigeria, who led the team on the visit, thanked the Commissioner and his team for the support given so far, notably the provision of office space for their operations.
He implored the Commissioner to sustain the support in order to achieve set goals of his organization.
Dr. Ajijola explained that The Challenge Initiative Project funded by Bill and Melind Gates Foundation was designed to scale up proven family planning interventions in the country with reference to the Nigeria Urban Reproductive Health (NURI) Model.
He noted that The Challenge Initiative was building on the successes recorded by the NURI Model using the “Business Unusual” approach for the participating States including Delta State which he said had hitherto gone through the Expression of Interest phase.
Dr. Ajijola explained further that The Challenge Initiative was built around the premise that putting participating States in the driver’s seat of the project would ensure it succeeds and that its impact lasted beyond the life of the project as it develop into a full-fledged program.
This approach according to him requires participating States to take the lead to improve the health and wellbeing of their population, supported by the Initiative and its regional accelerator hubs with funding, tools and assistance.
He highlighted the sustainable plans, of the Initiative to include the transfer of capacity to participating States, system strengthening, service delivery and advocacy, which will be achieved by working with the different officers in the various specialties.
He also used the medium to personally invite the Commissioner to the Strategy/Inception 4-Day Workshop in the State capital, Asaba.
