The USAID/Nigeria Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics activity, which is part of the global USAID MOMENTUM project, has urged media to raise public awareness of fistulas, unsafe surgeries, and other bad reproductive health practices.
The goal of the project was to reduce fistula instances, break down cultural barriers to maternal health, and promote safe reproductive health care, among other things.
During a two-day engagement meeting with members of the Sokoto state Correspondents’ Chapel, directors from the Sokoto state ministry of information, local government information officers, and hospital public relations officers in Sokoto, Dr Kabir Atta, the Country Representative and Project Manager, made a call in his address.
Mr. Atta emphasized the need of the media in raising public awareness, citing incidents of fistula, risky procedures, Female Gentile Mutilation (FGM), hazardous practices, and other poor reproductive health practices as examples.
According to him, maternal and child death rates in Nigerian communities require collaborative concern from stakeholders, as well as a shift in poor people’s attitudes and views about obtaining appropriate healthcare services and the availability of standard health facilities.
He added that the project began in June 2021 and is expected to be completed by September 2025, with a budget of ten million dollars.
The research will focus on surgical obstetrics, safe and appropriate cesarean birth, and peripartum hysterectomy, as well as FGM prevention and management, according to him.
He explained that the operations are being carried out in collaboration with the federal government and state ministries of health in the states of Ebonyi, Bauchi, FCT, Kebbi, and Sokoto.
According to Mr. Atta, the project aims to ensure proper awareness of health services, negative social and gender norms, a lack of trust in the health system, financial and geographic barriers, and poor access to facilities.
“It was also to educate people about existing gaps, such as insufficient staff, a lack of skills and support provider bias, fear of blame, disincentives for appropriate care, infrastructure, equipment and supply gaps, and a lack of process for providing quality service,” stated Atta.
He also urged journalists to help with sufficient resource allocation, evidence-based recommendations, and data collection, as well as to draw attention to the lack of recompense.
The project would also work to improve the referral system, support and scale best practices, lack of private sector engagement, and increased collaboration with civil society, according to the Country Representative.
He went on to say that it was based on the National Surgical, Obstetrics, Anaesthetic, and Nursing Plan (NSOANP), a five-year strategic priority for surgical care aimed at providing a realistic assessment and situation analysis of Nigeria’s surgical care.
He emphasized that the plan will aid in establishing a clear road map for execution and evaluation in order to increase people’s emergency access to surgical care.
The objective, according to him, was to create a national healthcare system that could respond to all surgical needs for all citizens at all times.
“Overall efforts are being made to integrate surgical, obstetrics, anaesthesia, and nursing care into the national healthcare system so that adequate surgical treatment is offered to all adults and children at all levels,” said the Country Director.
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