Globacom partners “African Health Now” to combat maternal mortality

The statistic is very scary! About 550 women are reported to be dying daily from preventable causes related to pregnancy complications and childbirth. This development is highly unacceptable to well meaning organizations and individuals who have resolved to contribute their quotas to platforms irrevocably committed to eradicating these menace and reducing to zero the incidence of infant and mother mortality rates on our continent. The foregoing must have informed the partnership between Globacom, a foremost telecommunications network and an international community development organisation, African Health Now (AHN) to provide essential items urgently needed to stabilize a new mother and her baby before, during and after delivery. The items included six yard cloth for ‘backing’ the baby, sanitary towels, baby clothes, soaps, wipes and other essentials needed to stabilize the new mother.The items were packed in a box aptly tagged  “Maternity Go Boxes” . Over 300 expectant mothers who thronged the Primary Health Centre (PHC), Iwaya, Makoko, Lagos on Friday, 28th December, 2018 received the boxes at the well attended event.

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Welcoming the beneficiaries, Globacom’s Regional Manager, Lagos 2, Mr. Victor Kalu explained that Globacom partnered AHN to improve the health of pregnant women by increasing pre-natal care, reducing infant mortality and supporting mothers to deal with post-partum depression. He commended the choice of Iwaya Primary Health Centre which serves a waterfront community supporting about 40,000 residents who have peculiar needs.

“It is gratifying that support for women and children is in sync with our forte in Globacom. To date, we have robustly supported many of such initiatives. We would not rest on our oars because women are a critical part of our policy initiatives. We would always support initiatives like this and more.

We congratulate the African Health Now especially the Founder, Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo for this very noble initiative”, Mr. Kalu enthused.

Explaining the outreach scheme, the Founder, African Health Now, Mrs. Nana Eyeson-Akiwowo, said that her organization discovered that some expectant mothers were ill-prepared for child birth and would only come to the clinic for delivery without attending ante-natal clinics and requisite amenities. “Our goal is to break that cycle by supporting these women from pregnancy to delivery and postpartum with the Maternity Go Box”, she declared.

Mrs Eyeson-Akiwowo disclosed that some boxes would be warehoused with the Primary Health Centre to cater for new mothers who may come for assistance in the near future.

A cross section of the expectant mothers thanked Globacom for coming to their aid in their time of need. One of them, Mrs. Patience Orji, a hair dresser, said “we thank Glo for this gift because most of us in this area cannot afford to buy some of the items in the boxes because we are struggling to make a living”.

Another recipient, Mrs Modinat Faremi, a petty trader expressed gratitude for the gesture adding that it was a great relief to her as she had been struggling to raise money for some of the items before the presentation. In the words of Mrs Meton Esther “most of us who visit this Centre here in Iwaya are petty traders and artisans. This support will go a long way to assist us. God will continue to bless Globacom . Amen!”.Apart from Globacom, African Health Now also partnered with renowned US-based Nigerian actor, Dayo Okeniyi, and his Positive Vibes Only (PVO) group as well as Dr. Debo Odulana, the Chief Executive Officer of Doctoora.com, to deliver the maternity kits. The Assistant Director, Nursing, Makoko/Iwaya Public Health Centre, Mrs Esther Uwah thanked Globacom and African Health for the very kind gesture which she said would go a long way to help the women.

In all, the joy of the beneficiaries knew no bounds as they clutched their maternity boxes like babies whilst  pouring effusive  encomiums on Globacom and African Health Now for the presentation