By GABRIEL OLAWALE
With a maternal rate of 1,000 per 100, 000 live births, a group known as Women’s Health and Action Research Centre, WHARC has called for urgent attention to issues concerning women and the girl- child, blaming the high rate of maternal mortality in the country on failure of government to ensure a functional Primary Health Care system.

The group at a 2- Day Retreat for Board of Trustees of the organisation in Lagos, described as unacceptable what the called “scandalous state of maternal deaths in Nigeria.”

WHARC Board Member and Country Director of Population Council, Dr. Babatunde Ahonsi, in a chat with Good Health Weekly identified cultural impediments, religious hindrances, poverty, breakdown of primary healthcare as major factors fueling the  high rate of maternal deaths in the country.

His words: “What we are witnessing in our country today is failure of governance. Otherwise, there is no reason why our women should be dying at the rate they are dying. It is even a scandal that they are dying the way they are dying, because we are less than 2 per cent of the world’s population. Yet we contribute 10 per cent to global maternal deaths annually. That is a scandal. We need to provide data and evidence to shame, challenge and humiliate our leaders to action.”

Ahonsi who posited that proper education for the girl- child would reverse  the trend appealed to government at all levels to increase health funding.

He said women  by their social economic role in any society ought not to die giving birth to life- a necessity to survival of societies- if all machinery were put on ground to prevent the abnormality.

Ahonsi reeled out some of the effects of maternal deaths to include; economic loss, high infant mort

He said: “When a woman dies, the consequence is far serious than people think. The child is affected and the entire family is affected. The society loses potentials and economic contributions she could have contributed to the society. So beyond the loss of life, the society loses.

“If Women don’t give birth, society would soon disappear, at least we don’t manufacture babies  in laboratories. So, they are performing a social function by enabling society to remain. Therefore, they should not be dying in the course of giving birth to life.

“If we have solutions that are known and easy to do, and we have the people who have the capacity to deliver the solutions, but they (solutions) are not be delivered to , if not all, to as many of those women that need those solutions, then it is a  purely  a governance problem.”

Corroborating his views, the Chairperson, Mrs. Winifred Onyeonwu who blamed the situation on poor awareness called for massive awareness campaign on issues concerning reproductive health,  women and the girl- child.

Her words, “If not ignorance, why would a woman who is pregnant or want to give birth to a child visit a native doctor or the lady who claims to be a traditional birth attendant instead of going to the hospital? The level of poverty and ignorance among women of child bearing age is very high.”