The Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT) project, a World Bank-funded initiative, has engaged no fewer than 100 Skilled Birth Attendants (SBAs) in Ekiti State.
The Chairman of the Board of the Ekiti State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Olufunke Ogunbunmi, stated this in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, during the orientation programme organized for the newly employed SBAs.
Represented by the Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics at the agency, Dr. Olusola Amodu, the board chairman explained that the new SBAs—comprising nurses, midwives, and community health officers—will soon be deployed to primary healthcare centres across the state.
While congratulating the newly employed health officers, she noted that they were engaged to help fill the growing gaps in the state’s primary healthcare system.
The board chairman urged them to be dedicated in assisting healthcare facilities in various communities to deliver effective and quality maternal and child healthcare services.
The State Project Manager of IMPACT, Dr. Sunday Omoya, said the engagement of SBAs was necessary to help eliminate maternal and child mortality in the state.
He revealed that the SBAs would be posted to primary healthcare centres across various communities, and urged pregnant women to take advantage of the skilled and professional personnel at these centres for antenatal and delivery services.
Omoya said:
“The engagement of the SBAs is aimed at increasing the number of skilled professionals available to attend to pregnant women and children in the state’s primary healthcare structures.
“Our project delivery objective is to reduce maternal mortality and under-five mortality. We recognize the critical role that trained personnel play in achieving this goal.
“When pregnant women have access to skilled professionals during antenatal care or delivery, their chances of survival are significantly higher compared to when they are attended to by untrained individuals.
“We want to assure pregnant women who have previously complained about the lack of qualified personnel at healthcare facilities that this issue is now being addressed by the government. We encourage them to make use of the nearest primary healthcare centres for their antenatal and delivery needs.”
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