Enugu to upgrade health facilities for maternal, newborn care
The Enugu State Government has pledged to upgrade secondary healthcare facilities across its 17 Local Government Areas to reduce maternal and newborn mortality.
The commitment was made by the State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Emmanuel Obi, during a dissemination meeting on the assessment of health facilities for Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC), in Enugu on Friday.
The meeting, themed “Strengthening Emergency and Newborn Care Through Evidence-Based Assessment,” was organised by the Enugu State Ministry of Health.
It was held in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health’s Sector-Wide Approach (SWAP) programme and Jhpiego, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University, USA.
Prof. Obi explained that the initiative aimed to ensure Enugu had efficient secondary healthcare systems capable of providing emergency maternal and newborn care.
He noted that the state had already commenced its own facility assessment, which would now be harmonised with the CEmONC assessment.
“This is an official presentation of findings from the facility assessments conducted by the Federal Ministry of Health, the SWAP Office, and our State Ministry of Health,” he said.
He added that the upgrade would enable Enugu to access federal funding under the “Hope Health” programme and SWAP, based on performance-linked disbursement indicators.
Mrs Francisca Ewoh, SWAP Desk Officer, described the programme as part of Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal Initiative aimed at reducing maternal and neonatal mortality nationwide.
According to her, pooled partner funds will be allocated to states that meet readiness requirements, with 35,000 dollars available per qualified facility in each council area.
“Eligibility is based on providing adequate infrastructure, utilities, and staffing in secondary healthcare centres.”
Dr Chinyere Ezendu, the Enugu State focal person for the CEmONC assessment, said only two facilities in the state met the basic standards for infrastructure, amenities, water, and electricity.
She added that none of the assessed facilities had the full capacity to manage neonatal complications.
“We are hopeful the findings will be used to develop actionable plans to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths in the state,” she said.
Dr Chioma Oduenyi, a representative of Jhpiego, reaffirmed their technical support to both the national and state-level SWAP efforts in facilitating the implementation process.
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