By Habibu Harisu
Malumfashi – The Katsina State Government on Tuesday distributed working kits to 49 women undergoing training in Community Midwifery at the state’s School of Midwifery, Malumfashi.
The chairman, Katsina State Local Government Service Commission, Alhaji Salihu Maigari-Danjuma, in his speech at the event said that the programme was facilitated by Women for Health, an NGO in collaboration with Maternal and Newborn Child Health (MNCH2).
Maigari-Danjuma said that the training was aimed at addressing the dearth of manpower in the healthcare delivery chain, especially, in the rural areas.
He said that after the 20-month training, the successful trainees, drawn from the 34 local government areas of the state, would be deployed to work in their respective communities.
He said that the state government sponsored all the expenses, including the payment of indexing to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, textbooks, working kits and monthly stipends of N10, 000 to the beneficiaries.
He said that the programme, which started in 2016, would be sustained.
The commission’s chairman urged the beneficiaries to reciprocate government’s gesture by their dedication to service to reduce mortality rate in the state.
The acting chairman of Malumfashi Local Government, Alhaji Sanusi Baure, urged the trainees to further develop themselves and obtain the requisite trainings toward becoming experienced midwives.
Baure said the state government was committed to executing various projects aimed at improving the lives of the people.
He said that the ongoing training was a testament to it.
Also, the provost of the Katsina State School of Health Science, Alhaji Abba Sada, advised the trainees to count themselves lucky to have benefitted from the programme.
Sada described the programme as a landmark in improving healthcare delivery in the state and urged trainees to be steadfast in the discharge of their duties and dealings with patients.
Hajia Indo Rabe and Abdullahi Sule, representatives of Women for Health and MNSH2 respectively, appreciated the state government for its commitments to the project.
Similarly, the District Head of Malumfashi, Justice Mamman Nasir, commended the donors for the initiative and expressed optimism that the efforts would yield positive results.
Nasir enjoined trainees to partner the traditional rulers and community groups on proper execution of government’s health policies.
The principal of the school, Hajia Halima Kalla, also lauded the state government in her speech.
She said that the programme was in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’s aim of curbing maternal mortality in the country.
Kalla said the trainees were now better equipped to ensure that the set goal was achieved.
She said that the initiative would augment shortage of manpower in maternal healthcare.
She also said that the school had obtained accreditation to run Basic Midwives and Community Midwives Training courses.
The Basic Midwife graduates could work at local, state and national levels while Community Midwives could work at rural settlements, she said.
Kalla said that lack of skilled birth attendants had led to the increase in mortality rates in the country.
She said that the current initiative would usher in a new era of hope for would-be mothers.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent in Malumfashi witnessed the distribution of the kits to the beneficiaries.