By Chioma Umeha
Lagos
Community leaders in Lagos state have been charged
to fish out unregistered Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and ensure their
registration as soon as possible otherwise they will face full wrath of the
law.
Giving the charge on Thursday, was the Chairman,
House Committee on Health, LSHA, Hon Segun Olulade, who noted that unregistered
TBAs in the State now outnumber the registered ones and warned that it will no
longer be business as usual for them.Community leaders in Lagos state have been
charged to fish out unregistered Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and ensure
their registration as soon as possible otherwise they will face full wrath of
the law.
Olulade who spoke during the Town Hall Meeting on
Maternal & Child Mortality Reduction Programme at the Ikorodu Town Hall,
Ita-Ilewa, Ikorodu, Lagos, also observed that some of the TBAs, including the
unregistered ones were exceeding the limits of their scope of operation.
He also blamed the unregistered TBAs for
contributing to the high maternal and infant mortality rates by the failing to
refer pregnant and nursing women with complications to public health facilities
on time.
The Chairman, Lagos State House of Assembly
(LSHA), Committee on Health said:
“It has come to the notice of the government that unregistered
Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) are more than those registered. This is no
longer acceptable.
“We would like to implore our community leaders to
please fish out these unregistered Traditional Birth Attendants and persuade
them to register as soon as possible before the law catches up with them.”
He explained, “the acceptance of TBAs practices
came into being due to the cultural beliefs of our people with the
understanding that the registered Traditional Birth Attendants will work only
within the limitation of their practice. Thus they are not expected to use any
orthodox tablets, injections or instruments because they are not technically trained
to apply them.”
He therefore warned all TBAs to operate within
their limitations and refer their patients on time to public health facilities
to prevent the unnecessary death of mothers and their children.
Earlier, the Health Commissioner, Dr Jide Idris,
remarked that the essence of the meeting was to discuss child and mother
strategies in order to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates.
The Lagos Health boss further said that this is a
sensitization programme which has held three Senatorial Districts, “now we are
visiting the LGAs to hold a similar programme and tell them what to do.”
He admitted: “Our facilities are not enough and we
are renovating more, some of our staff their attitude is very bad, TBAs are
compounding the problem.
“We have decided to train the TBAs; we want to
find out the root causes of this problem. Our community leaders must take
responsibilities, to be our ears and our eyes. The leader of TBAs is here. All
of us have to work together to ensure that the women deliver safely and
children are born safely.”
The high point of the event was the open
declaration of 44 TBAs who responded to the call of the Oba Kabiru Adewale
Shotobi, the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, for free registration sponsorship with the
Primary Health Care Board(PHCB) at the sum of N6,000 each.
The Sole Administrator of Ikorodu LGA, Hon
Ogunleye Gbolahan called on the governor to intervene to reduce the maternal
and infant mortality as well as neonatal rates, saying: “The rate is high, the
wife of the governor is took the trouble to put together this programme to
encourage women to utilize the 25 PHCs in Ikorodu LGA.”
Mrs. Bolanle Ambode , wife of the Lagos state
governor, urged participants, community leaders, community-based organizations
among others to encourage pregnant women to embrace the free antenatal care,
delivery services at government facilities.
