Mr Samuel Oyeniyi, Deputy Director, Head Safe Motherhood, Ministry of Health, has urged newsmen to create awareness on Maternal Perinatal Death Surveillance Response (MPDSR), as it has achieved a lot of benefits.
Oyeniyi, who is also the National Focal Person MPDSR , Reproductive Health Division Department of Family Planning in the ministry, made the call on Saturday in an online media training for health reporters and features writers.
He said this while presenting a paper titled: “The MPDSR Domestication and Institutionalization Plans and How They Impact Maternal and Child Health in Nigeria”.
“The media need to use the ongoing constitutional review to advocate the passage of the MPDSR Bill, to ensure that all maternal deaths are recorded and reviewed so that the cause is determined, to prevent reoccurrence.
“The country needs data for any woman that dies to know the cause and so, prevent other women dying from the same cause,’’ he said.
According to him, the implementation of MPDSR has been done across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with the support of Rotary International.
He said that the response could be used to prevent maternal and perinatal death in the country.
“Reports are generated from the systems which are very rare to see,’’ he said.
He said that the MPDSR programme was bringing a lot on board as the indices were improving but very slow.
“With the combination of our efforts, we will be able to get there. Causes of maternal and neo-natal death are still worrisome to us.
“We’ve been able to tackle hemorrhage better, but some women come late with eclampsia,” which is difficult to manage at that point,” Oyeniyi said
“We will achieve our goal with a combined effort from stakeholders. Nigeria will be able to address the causes of maternal and neo-natal death.
“We’ve been able to tackle haemorrhage better, but some women come late with eclampsia,” which is difficult to manage at that point,” he said.
Oyeniyi said that there were a lot of benefits from the Digital Electronic Data Management System for MPDSR in Nigeria.
Speaking, Prof. Josiah Mutihir , from the University of Jos, said that in spite of the little side effects that accompany the usage of contraceptives, the gains were numerous.
Mutihir said this while presenting a paper titled, “Why Men and Women are not using contraceptives and how to improve acceptance and proportion of unmet needs”.
He said that why some choose not to use contraceptives was the desire to have large families
“Men are onlookers and allow the women to carry the burden of pregnancy and the risk of maternal mortality.
“Men are the gatekeepers as far as religion, tradition and politics are concerned. “If men do not show interest in using contraceptives which makes it different for the women.
“For the women, if the husband said they should not go for contraceptives, the women will not go,’’ he said.
Mutihir said that some women have a lot of myths that prevent them from accessing the product.
“The attitude of health workers and fear of side effects, they may have heard from peers also discourage them,’’ he said.
He called on newsmen to keep hammering on advocacy for a better improvement over time.
“It is the media that can disseminate the information to everybody, the politicians, religious and traditional leaders,’’
“The media can help translate family planning into local languages to have more impact on Nigerians
(NAN)