Women are backbone of the society —Ayomidamope Adebiyi

Ayomidamope Adebiyi is a Nigerian who, despite relocating to the United States at the age of 19, never forgot her roots and has used her passion for global health, health equity and healthcare access, especially for women and children at the grassroots in Nigeria. The innovator of a nonprofit, donation-funded organisation; Care for the Unreached, in this interview with YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE, speaks on her mission to provide lifesaving health educations through community health outreach in rural communities, how she manages her organisation from a different country as well as programmes as has plan to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity among other issues:

 

You are a nurse in the US and you run a free ‘outreach organisation in Nigeria, how do you manage this?

Yes, I am actually a family nurse practitioner who specialises in occupational and environmental health, which means while I am passionate about family medicine, I am equally passionate about employees’ health at the workplace and the overall workplace safety. I run care for the unreached in Nigeria, thanks to the access of the internet and telephone which has made the project more seamless and easier to work with people on ground to have a continued impacts in the rural communities and I’m also involved in global health and health mission work here in the United States because realistically, there are also needs here in some communities. For instance, maternal mortality in black women are three times higher than white women, also there are a lot of migrants and most farming communities that don’t have easy access to healthcare. I see myself as a global citizen and I am always aware that I live in a global village. If many don’t even know that before, I believe the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the light of how blurred geographical borders have become and the need for us as health care advocates to be involved and aware of things happening in other parts of the world as well. How I manage all my engagements can be and is sometimes challenging and overwhelming, but I think when you’re passionate about something you always have the opportunity and the room to get it done. It doesn’t mean it’s not going to be challenging but you just find a way, even if it is to wake up at night to meet the deadlines. I have to also emphasise that the project in Nigeria even though I’m a focal point, it’s primarily being run by a host of partners and volunteers on the ground and the various Primary Health centers who open their doors for us to come.

 

You seem particular about maternal mortality and morbidity, why?

Yes I’m particular about maternal, newborn and child mortality. I think basically because I’m a woman and also because statistics don’t lie. The chance of a woman in Nigeria dying from childbirths, pregnancy or necessitated abortion is one in 22, whereas in the developed country where I live, the chance is one in 4,900 I mean that is a stark contrast and there are many factors that lead to these negative outcomes. One is the overall healthcare institutions and then the lack of access to basic primary health care in many rural communities in Nigeria, where incidences of high maternal and child mortality are mostly evident. Secondly, there is also lack of life-saving health education that provides information on the importance of prenatal care, assisted delivery with trained midwives and community health workers who can identify possible birth complication and escalate it to state hospitals that might have the necessary skill, and facilities to protect the life of the mother and child. Also, on the issue of neonatal and child mortality, according to the WHO, one in five Nigerian children never makes it to age five, some of these are preventable deaths resulting from issues like malnutrition, lack of access to life saving vaccinations, preterm delivery without access to thermoregulations, etc. The UN 2030 SDG 3 goal is to reduce neonatal and under- five mortality rates by one third and for Nigeria to achieve this goal, we definitely cannot leave it to the government alone to tackle. That is what Care for the Unreached is trying to do. We set our mission to look for how our local interventions and initiative can lead international and global gains in addressing these issues.

 

What are your thoughts on women trying to make a difference?

I think we can only make a difference when we support women. We have to create an enabling environment where there is access to good education in acknowledgement for their effort because when the society is invested in women, it translates positively to the growth of that nation but I don’t only want women to make a difference I want women to be able to own themselves. I would also like to say we have actually always been making a difference because every local community, every local economic space that you go to is occupied by women. Women have been making difference but the society has just not given women the chance to take full ownership of themselves and that, is I think, is the next way to go.

 

Why do you seem to focus on women health?

This is because I understand the impact of women; we are the backbone of the household and the society and when we are not healthy, the society itself is sick. I am very passionate about women health because as a mother, I know women leave their wellbeing to care for the families that they love so they also need someone to look out for them.

 

READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE 

• INEC worried over security situation in Imo, Bayelsa, Kogi

• Israeli defense minister orders ‘complete siege’ of Gaza

• Drambi Vandi to die by hanging for killing Bolanle Raheem

• Sunday Igboho regains freedom after two years

• Least paid worker in Nigeria should get 200 dollars monthly – Ajaero

• PRESSTIME PODCAST: The Graphics Designer Episode

• MONDAY LINES: The certificate elephant in Abuja

• EDITORIAL: The new CBN leadership