By Amina Ahmed
No fewer than 5,000 women and newborns have benefited from the Federal Government’s free emergency healthcare services in the last three years in Bauchi State.
Dr Hassan Shu’aibu, State Focal Person, Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) programme, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday in Bauchi.
CEmONC is part of the federal government’s health sector reforms being implemented through the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
It aims to improve access to life-saving emergency care for pregnant women and newborns.
Shi’aibu said that the programme was being implemented in eight health facilities across Bauchi state since inception in November 2023.
He listed the facilities to include Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi; Federal Medical Centre, Misau; Federal University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital, Azare; and the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Ningi.
Others included Bauchi, Itas/Gadau, Toro and Zaki General Hospitals, as well as a private hospital, Ni’ima Consultancy Clinic, Bauchi.
According to Sambo, plans are under way to expand the services to additional facilities, including private and faith-based health institutions in the state.
“The programme provides access to essential emergency obstetric and newborn care without imposing the financial burden of treatment on vulnerable families.
“The s covered under the programme include life-saving medicines, blood transfusions, Caesarean Sections (CS), and treatment for convulsions associated with pregnancy complications,” he said.
Sambo said that the intervention was designed to save lives, reduce maternal and newborn deaths, and protect families from healthcare expenses.
Also, Dr Ashiru Adamu, Coordinator, Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) in Bauchi, said that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had provided medical equipment and other healthcare supplies worth N10 billion to the state.
Adamu said that 76 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) were also renovated across the state.
He said that the interventions included the introduction of an emergency transportation system; deployment of 15 rural ambulances and six functional Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered ambulances, to improve access to quality healthcare services.
The coordinator also disclosed that a radio-diagnostic centre was inaugurated at the ATBUTH.
On healthcare delivery reforms, Adamu said that the FG planned to work with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), to improve access to essential services through medical outreach programmes.
He said that the proposed incentive framework would support outreach services in hard-to-reach communities, focusing on antenatal care, nutrition, immunisation, malaria and pneumonia prevention and treatment.
“We also have incentive reforms under which a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed to provide financial incentives,” he said.
Adamu highlighted that the framework would support the engagement of skilled birth attendants, and provide funding for minor repairs in primary healthcare facilities.
He said that the SWAp recruitment exercise, signed by the Bauchi state government and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), was aimed at addressing shortage of health personnel.
He said that the state government had so far recruited about 700 health workers under the initiative.
Some of the beneficiaries lauded the gesture, describing it as life-saving, particularly for families unable to afford emergency medical treatment.
Mr Musa Inuwa, whose wife benefited from the programme, said that the intervention enabled her to receive emergency treatment and deliver safely without out-of-pocket expenditure.
Inuwa said that his wife developed high blood pressure during pregnancy, requiring a CS surgery, but he could not afford the costs.
“I had planned for her to have a normal delivery, as she had done in previous pregnancies, but complications developed during this pregnancy.
“I did not have enough money to pay for the surgery. The programme helped my wife and baby receive the care they needed without my family having to bear the cost,” he said.
Mrs Binta Ibrahim, another beneficiary, described the intervention as timely, adding that it assisted women who faced financial difficulties in accessing essential maternal healthcare.
Ibrahim commended the FG over the initiative aimed at reducing maternal and newborn deaths, and improving access to healthcare services. (NAN)
Edited by Fatima Sule/Rabiu Sani-Ali
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