Foundation States Commitment to Saving Lives of Pregnant Women, Newborn Babies

By Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The wife of Senate President and President, Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Mrs.Oluwatoyin Saraki, has reiterated her commitment to saving the lives of pregnant women and new born babies in Nigeria and the African continent.

Towards this end, she said that her pet healthcare project, Wellbeing Foundation Africa, has commenced the training of health workers especially doctors, midwives and nurses, among others in the country so as to provide new skills and logistics that would enable her to continue to achieve the feat.

Mrs Saraki disclosed this on Monday at the Kwara State Ministry of Health in Ilorin, the state capital, during the Dissemination of Phase 1 and 2 Results of Emergency Obstetrics and Newborn Care (EmONC) jointly sponsored by WBFA, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom and Johnson and Johnson Plc.

The project, which has been widely adjudged successful, had taken off in seven out of the 16 local governments in the state.

She said the intervention became necessary because 80 per cent of all maternal deaths result from five complications which can be readily treated by qualified and trained health professionals.

Mrs. Saraki added that she decided to take up the challenge to provide new skills for doctors and related health staff in the hospitals across the local governments and the states in the country.

This, she noted, would enable the mothers and newborn babies to survive by providing logistics for them at the required stage of delivery.

Represented at the event by the Nigeria Country Director of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Dr. Luther-King Fasheun, she expressed delight that reports on phase one and two projects showed that many lives have been saved, hence the project should be available across Nigeria and the African continent.

“As we move to cover the remaining nine LGAs of Kwara State, we will build on the lessons we have learnt from our partnership to improve outcomes across all the 16 LGAs.

“Its our intention to make Kwara State the shining light, as we move from here to other parts of Nigeria and other African countries,” he stressed.