By Ibukun Emiola
Mr Francesco Arezzo, President, Rotary International, has reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to supporting Nigeria in reducing maternal and child mortality.
Arezzo, who stated this in his remarks at a Community Dialogue and Joint Partners Health Outreach in Ibadan on Sunday, said the support would be given through its “Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria” initiative.
He described the project as a collaborative effort designed to address real community health challenges.
“Every day, all over the world, this is what we love to do. This project is important not only because of the funding involved but because it is done together with the community,” Arezzo said.
He lauded the efforts of Rotarians, health workers and community stakeholders, stating that the initiative had demonstrated that maternal and child mortality could be significantly reduced.
Rotary, the president said, would continue to provide support, while communities must build resilience and sustain the gains recorded under the programme.
“We have shown that it is possible to reduce mortality. In the medium term, communities must organise themselves and sustain the project”.
Also speaking, the President-elect, Rotary International, Mr Yinka Babalola, said that the programme was conceived as a pilot to tackle Nigeria’s high rate of maternal and infant mortality.
Babalola disclosed that the two million dollar ($2 million) intervention recorded a 30 per cent reduction in maternal mortality in one of the pilot states, Gombe, within two years.
“When you put 30 per cent in the context of actual number of women who are no longer dying, that is significant,” he said.
Babalola explained that the first phase of the programme, implemented in four pilot states including Ekiti and Gombe, would be reviewed for scale-up based on lessons learnt.
He said that the initiative comprised 14 components, including community dialogue, training of local birth attendants, capacity building for health workers, upgrading of facilities and provision of medical commodities.
Also, the District Governor, Rotary District 9126, Batife Funkeakpo, said the organisation would consolidate on the gains of the scale-up phase to further reduce maternal and child mortality.
In his remarks, Chairman, Ibadan North-East Local Government, Mr Ibrahim Akintayo, appreciated Rotary for supporting the council and pledged continued collaboration.
A member of the Rotary Foundation Trustee, Pearl Okoro, urged beneficiaries to take full advantage of the programme, assuring them of Rotary’s sustained support.
The event featured presentation of awards of appreciation to community leaders, including the Chairman, Ibadan North-East Local Government and the Baale of Idi-Ape, Chief Akinyemi Akinbiyi.
