The Gombe State Family Planning Coordinator, Grace Mabudi, has urged no fewer than 76 Community Maternal, Perinatal, Child Death Surveillance and Response (cMPCDSR) champions to brace up and take ownership of the campaign towards curbing mortality in communities.
She made this disclosure shortly before the end of a two-day workshop for 76 champions, organised by the Rotary Action Group for Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health under the auspices of Rotary “Together for Healthy Families in Nigeria,” for Kaltungo Local Government Area.
The cMPCDSR Committee for Kaltungo LGA is expected to reduce mortality rates in Kaltungo LGA of Gombe, with participants cutting across Ward Development Chairmen, Officers in Charge, Youth Leaders, National Population Commission officials, Local Government Area Doctors, Maternal and Child Health Coordinators, State Monitoring and Evaluation Officers, Local Government Area Monitoring and Evaluation Officers, Zonal Statisticians, Disease Surveillance and Notification Officers, MPCDSR State Chairmen, MPCDSR Secretaries, MPCDSR Desk Officers, Local Government Area Reproductive Health Coordinators, Health Management and Information System Officers, CHIPS/CHEWS, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Market Women, Traditional Birth Attendants/Traditional Healers, Representatives of Private Health Practice, Retired Senior Nurses/Matrons (Support Staff), Village Development Chairmen, and PoS Community Leaders/Champions.
Others are; Christian Association of Nigeria Representatives, Imams, Local Government Chairmen, MPCDSR Co-Chairmen I and II, State Ministry Director of Health Planning and Research Statistics, Agency Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, State Director of Public Health, Director of Community Health Services, State Reproductive Health Coordinators, Health Educators, LGA Officials, Health Supervisors, Community-Based Organisations (CBOs), and Health Promoters.
The FP Coordinator said, “We have to sustain this process; it’s ours. We must endeavour to own the campaign. We should see ourselves as ambassadors in our communities.”
Handing over the tools for notification and review of maternal deaths to the ambassadors, she urged effective documentation, adding, “The tool will help you to know your mandates and responsibilities. It will help to curb maternal deaths in Kaltungo LGA.”
Principal Medical Officer, Dr Suleiman Abdul, of General Hospital Kumo, described the engagement as impactful, explaining that “We dwelt on what is happening at the community level. We noticed that if we deal with mortality at the facility level, the community is left out. However, most of the deaths occur at the community level. We want to know those that die at the community level through verbal autopsy so that we identify the real cause and address the contributory factors associated with the death.”
Abdul urged participants to cascade the learning to other members of the community. “If you are from the community, you should pass it to other members by training others with the knowledge gained. We are going to develop an action plan today so that they can go back and work with it. We have the copy to follow and track what they have done. It will provide them with rules of engagement and how to deliver the training at the community level in order to achieve our goal.”
Speaking further, Abdul added, “I facilitated around terminologies, on the need to know the keywords, the real words like mother, perinatal, stillbirth. We had to tell them the real definition so that they can categorise the death if it happens, and know the key indicators. I coordinated the tools required on the field.”
National Coordinator/Country Director, RMCH, Professor Emmanuel Adedolapo-Lufadeju, said, “Our objective is clear: to reduce maternal deaths in our community through sustainable, community-led initiatives. We will explore strategies for improving access to quality antenatal care, strengthening referral systems, and promoting community-based interventions.”
Represented by Capacity Building Specialist, Mary Alaje, the Country Director further explained that, “Community Maternal, Perinatal, Child Death Surveillance and Response (cMPCDSR) is a strategy aimed at reducing maternal, perinatal, and child deaths through community-based surveillance and response.”
He maintained that participants were selected from various communities across Kaltungo Local Government Area of Gombe State to ensure full utilisation of the cMPCDSR committee. “The aim is to strengthen community structures in identifying, reporting, and responding to maternal, perinatal, and child deaths at the grassroots level. The training gathered 76 key community stakeholders who play direct roles in maternal health promotion, referral, and advocacy,” Adedolapo-Lufadeju added.
The District Head of Kaltungo, who doubles as the Magajin Gari, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim, lauded Rotary International for its efforts towards combating maternal and perinatal deaths in the area.
He said, “I want to appreciate Rotary for organising this workshop to train stakeholders of Kaltungo Local Government Area. This will help to reduce the number of deaths in the communities. Some time ago, they bought drugs which were given to patients.”
Ibrahim also appealed to healthcare providers to disclose causes of death, saying, “What we have is that a lot of times they (doctors, nurses) don’t give full details on cause of death. If they do, I’m sure it will go a long way in reducing the number of mortalities in our communities.”
PERISCOPE NIGERIA reports that on Tuesday, Commissioner for Health Dr Habu Dahiru, inaugurated the committee for Kaltungo LGA with the call for concerted efforts towards combating maternal and perinatal deaths.
