The Abia State Government has rolled Rural Emergency Services and Maternal Transport System across the state to safeguard the lives of mothers and newborn babies.
The State’s Commissioner for Health, Professor Enoch Ogbonnaya Uche disclosed this in Umuahia during the kick off of the program.
He said the action was in line with the directive of Governor Alex Otti on public health.
According to the Commissioner, emergency medical services play a critical role in determining the overall quality of life of any population, noting that the new system is specifically targeted at reducing maternal and neonatal mortality in the state.
He explained that one of the leading causes of maternal deaths is the inability of pregnant women, especially those in labour, and new babies who require urgent care, to access health facilities with skilled personnel on time.
He identified three Local Government Areas of Obingwa, Bende, and Ukwa East as high-burden areas for maternal mortality, describing them as part of the 172 high-risk LGAs in Nigeria.
“As a strategic response, we have deployed ambulances to central locations within these LGAs to ensure that any woman in need of emergency transport can access services within 25 to 30 minutes or less,” he stated.
He added that trained emergency transport officers have been included in the national emergency response platform to ensure prompt processing of distress calls and swift deployment of ambulances to convey patients to equipped healthcare facilities.
Emergency medical services critical to ending maternal, infant mortality – Gov Otti
Emergency medical services critical to ending maternal, infant mortality – Gov Otti
