Coca-Cola
Company is set to launch a new programme tagged: “The Safe Birth Initiative” to
support the Ministries of Health in Nigeria and Ivory Coast to tackle the high
incidence of maternal and newborn mortalities.
Stating
this during a courtesy visit to Alassane Ouattara, the President of
the Republic of Ivory Coast, the Coca-Cola Europe, Middle East & Africa
(EMEA) Group President, Brian Smith, said the programme will focus on
strengthening the capacity of maternity and neonatal units in selected public
hospitals in the two countries.
Smith
said;“With US$20 million grant from Coca-Cola to Medshare International Inc.,
the US-based not-for-profit NGO will source essential equipment, kits and
supplies worth about US$20 million to enable safe deliveries and post-delivery
emergency care for both mothers and their newborns.”
“The
programme will also include the training of biomedical technicians and other
appropriate hospital personnel by Medshare International on the operation,
repair and maintenance of the donated equipment as well as the reactivation of
a huge stock of faulty or abandoned equipment in public hospitals which is a
major challenge for the country’s healthcare delivery system.
According
to UNICEF’s 2016 State of the World’s Children report, 38 out of every 1,000
babies die within the first 28 days of birth while 645 out of 100,000 women die
during or shortly after child birth due to avoidable conditions.
In
Nigeria on the other hand, about 40,000 women and 260,000 newborns (excluding
300,000 stillborn) die during or shortly after childbirth annually. For this
reason, neonatal mortality is considered as one of the worst public health
crises in Nigeria and a major priority for the Government in its resolve to
meet the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs.
Smith
added that, “The commitment to help promote sustainable development in our
communities is a fundamental part of Coca-Cola’s strategy for sustainable business
growth. This program which demonstrates this commitment will help save the
precious lives of many mothers and newborns and also support the remarkable
efforts of the Ivorian government at rebuilding this vibrant country”.
Responding,
the Ivory President Ouattara welcomed Coca-Cola’s support for the Health
Ministry, noting that maternal and child health was an area the country
recorded a weak performance under the Millennium Development Goals.
Peter
Njonjo, President of Coca-Cola West Africa Business Unit, said “Coca-Cola has a
special relationship with women who are pillars of our business, especially in
Africa where women play a dominant role in our distribution and retail network.
Just
like our 5by20 Initiative, the Safe Birth Initiative which we will be
implementing in Ivory Coast and Nigeria is a platform enabling us to promote
the wellbeing of women, in this case, as it relates to the special but
vulnerable experience of childbirth”.
