US group, Abia diaspora office, train health workers on child mortality

US group, Abia diaspora office, train health workers on child mortality

By Our Reporter

A USA- based medical team known as Inspire Hope Foundation,  IHF ,  led by Nigerian born Dr Chinyere Anyaogu; and  the Abia State Adviser to the Governor on Diaspora Matters and Special Duties, Dr Ngozi Ogbonna-Erondu, has conducted a one day Train-The-Trainer workshop tagged ” Helping Babies Breathe” for Abia health workers selected from the  17 Local Government Areas in the state.

The state Director of National Orientation Agency ( NOA) Dr Lady Ngozi Okechukwu and the Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Development Agency ( SPHDA) Dr Chinagozi Adindu  also collaborated in training  the health workers not only on  how to manage babies during and after their birth but to be able to thereafter, train others in turn.

The workshop which held at the Women Development Center Umuahia, the state capital, featured lectures and discussions by the medical experts led by Dr Anyaogu on other salient issues on the subject matter, top of which were demonstrations  of how health workers should  handle babies during and after birth especially ensure that the babies breathe well.

A resource person and  Neonatologist from  the   University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Dr Ikechukwu Okonkwo  stated that if  babies do not  breathe well, they would have slim  chances of survival stressing that in view of Nigeria’s  second position ranking in global neonatal figure and pre-birth death, Abia  state ought to address the challenge and  step up her anti child mortality curbing efforts in addition to her other interventions in the health sector.

Another  resource person and  Consultant from  the Federal Medical Center Asaba Delta state, professor Angela Okolo had stated that ideally, a baby should not be admitted in a medical facility in the absence of or without the mother.

Speaking,  the Executive Secretary of Abia State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Chinagozi Adindu

said  that the state governor Dr Okezie Ikpeazu  had effected numerous health interventions to improve the healthcare of Abians including recently commissioning a modern equipped Children hospital at Umuahia with plans to replicate same in the other two senatorial districts of the state

He therefore charged the  health workers to,  as they attend to babies , do all the needful to help them breathe well indicating that the training would be extended  beyond  the state capital.

Declaring the workshop open at the Women Development Center,  the state Health Commissioner Dr Joe Osuji represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Mrs Franca Ekwuribe, said that that  State government provided the enabling environment for the  IHF Medical Team of  experts from USA and those from outside Abia state to conduct the training and enjoined the Health Worker- Trainees to , after the training , be more passionate as they apply the knowledge acquired in their work to facilitate the reduction of child mortality rate.

The NOA Director ( Lady Okechukwu) who  decried the reported level of child mortality

said that the training was to enable the health workers to be more active in the drive to reduce child mortality.

She tasked Nigerians at home and in the  diaspora to partner government to sustain  child mortality eradication efforts and commended the Inspire Hope Foundation Medical Team and other Resource Persons for coming to  Nigeria and Abia state for the event  despite the prevailing odds and the Abia State Diaspora Office for the role it played in actualizing the training.