By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa — Wife of the Bayelsa State Governor, Mrs. Alayingi Sylva, weekend, expressed satisfaction with the report submitted to her office by medical experts on the outcome of the workshop for traditional birth attendants and the flag-off of the mass de-worming exercise and malaria awareness programme in the state, saying the report showed a drastic reduction in child and maternal mortality in the state.

Mrs. Sylva announced that the training of over 400 birth attendants in the eight local government areas in collaboration with the United National Children Fund and the Ministry of Gender and Social Development, was to increase the partnership between orthodox doctors and traditional attendants to reduce cases of malaria, anaemia, ante-natal care knowledge and proper immunisation.

The flag off of the first and second rounds of the mass de-worming campaign by her NGO, Centre for Gender Values and Culture, CGVC, and the SPDC in most parts of the local government councils in the state has reduced the infection rates in children between the ages of 5 and 15 years and improved the health of children to enable the state meet the Millennium Development Goals on health and education of children.

Mrs. Sylva, while speaking at the end of the training workshop for Tradition Birth Attendants and the recent flag off of the mass de_worming programme in Sagbama council said the state has recorded a significant reduction in maternal and infant mortality as a result of the first workshop organised for them two years ago.

She said though the aim of the her NGO, Centre for Gender Value and Culture, the UNICEF and the State Ministry of Gender and Social Development, was to refocus the role of traditional birth attendants into promoting infant and maternal health, the effort was successful as the orthodox medical experts and the traditional birth attendants have combined to improve the health of the state.

At the kick_off of the mass de_worming programme in Sagbama council area, the governor’s wife noted that the collaborative effort between the SPDC and her NGO has witnessed the reduction in the cases of high infection and deaths of children living in areas with poor sanitation and infected with intestinal worms.

Mrs. Sylva, performed the de_worm exercise on some school children and witnessed the distribution of over ten thousand de_worm drugs by the Shell Petroleum Development Company to wives of council chairmen in the state.

“There is the need for corporate organisations to fulfill their social responsibility to the communities in which they operate by joining the government and the NGOs in the fight against malaria and worm.