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Chioma Umeha
Coca-Cola Nigeria Ltd, Monday, has delivered
maternal and neo-natal care equipment to the Federal Medical Centre,
Ebute-Metta, as part of The Safe Birth Initiative, which was launched last
year.
The SBI was launched in partnership with Coca-Cola
partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Office of the Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals and an NGO,
Medshare International Inc.
The initiative which is targeted to curb the high
rate of maternal and newborn deaths in Nigeria focuses on strengthening the
capacity of target public hospitals in three critical areas. First is the
procurement of vital maternal and neonatal medical equipment and supplies to enable
safe deliveries and post-delivery emergency care, while the second is training
biomedical engineering technicians to improve equipment maintenance and uptime.
The third is reactivating a large stock of
abandoned medical equipment wasting away in public hospitals.
Speaking during the equipment handover in Lagos,
Mr. Clem Ugorji, Coca-Cola West Africa Public Affairs & Communications
Director said, FMC Ebute-Metta was the second out of the 15 beneficiaries to
receive from the gesture, which comprised equipment, kits and supplies value at
$10.8 million, that is over N3.8 billion.
Ugorji stressed the need for private and public
sector collaboration to tackle maternal, newborn and child health complications
as well as deaths in the country.
According to the National Demographics and Health
Survey (NDHS, 2013), Nigeria loses as many as 576 women per 100,000 childbirths
and 37 newborn deaths per 1,000 live births, placing the country among the
worst ratios for both maternal and newborn deaths globally.
He said, “Active and intentional collaboration
between members of the private and public sector is key to transforming
healthcare in Nigeria. We commend the good work our doctors and nurses are
doing but recognise that there is a limit to what they can do without the
critical equipment required for effective diagnosis, testing and treatment.
“Through the Safe Birth Initiative, we are pleased
to be able to donate vital equipment to aid the work currently being done to
safeguard the lives of mothers and babies here at Federal medical Centre,
Ebute-Metta and the 14 other hospitals that will receive donations as part of
the first phase of the Safe Birth Initiative.”
Responding to the gesture, Dr Adedamola Dada,
Chief Medical Director, FMC, Ebute-Metta, thanked the donors and pledged to
make effective utilisation and maintenance of the equipment.
Dr Dada said; “We are grateful to Coca-Cola, the
OSSAP-SDGs, Medshare International and the Federal Government for this
initiative. Already, since receiving the SBI equipment early this year, we have
saved just a little under N10 million in medical and administrative costs.
“We have recorded and supported 21 premature
births with the newly-installed incubators; 321 mothers and babies have been
brought home alive; and 46,000 other patients have benefitted in some way from
the SBI initiative.
“The beverage company has also ensured the
sustainability of the programme and equipment, making sure we have adequate
engineering capacity on ground, through the training of our engineers, for
preventive maintenance.”
Commenting, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire,
Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, said, her office is working
assiduously to provide strategic guidance on the implementation of the SDGs in
the country.
Represented by Dr. Yahaya Hamza, Head Sectors,
Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs (OSSAP-SDGs),
Orelope-Adefulire said by making available a wide range of vital life-saving
equipment, the SBI promoting the SDGs 3.
