By Churchill Oyowe
Delta State is today celebrating its latest leap in the health sector. It is the successful execution of the Mother and Child Specialists Hospital and the Advanced Diagnostic Centre (ADC), Owa-Alero, in Ika North East Local Government Area.
The projects represent a plus in the global effort in combating the unpalatable trends in maternal and under five mortality. The World Health Organisation (WHO) designated both as critical concerns that call for deliberate action, especially among Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia countries that accounted for approximately 86 percent of global deaths.
Specifically in maternal mortality as at 2022, Nigeria accounts for over 34 per cent of global maternal deaths while the risk of dying during pregnancy, childbirth, or after an abortion for a Nigerian woman is one in 22, compared to one in 4,900 in developed countries.
The situation is also dismal in infant and under-five deaths. The United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF), a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN) projected in 2018 that Nigeria would overtake India in the unenviable position in five years but that was broken in 2019. Today, Nigeria has become the world’s number one contributor to deaths of children under the age of five, according to a report released by UNICEF in September, 2020.
While the UNICEF report titled “Situation of Women and Children in Nigeria” states that the country records 576 maternal mortality per 100,000 live births- the fourth highest across the globe, it said specifically for under five that over the past five years, infant and under-five mortality have remained steady at 74 and 117 deaths per 1,000 live births respectively. By interpretation, the agency said one Nigerian child of every 13 born dies before reaching one year and one in every eight does not survive to the fifth birthday.
The broad aim of Goal No 3 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) talks about good health and wellbeing, which includes reducing the global maternal mortality rate (MMR) to less than 70 per 100 000 births, with no country having a maternal mortality rate of more than twice the global average.
Achieving this aim has been a progressive continuum for Delta State Government led by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. The construction and completion of the Mother and Child Specialist Hospital and the Advanced Diagnostic Centre in Owa-Alero is said to be part of an effort to reduce the worsening MMR and infant and child mortality.
The sections in the building include the Operating Theatre/Recovery Room with facilities such as anaesthesia machines, monitors, ceiling mounted theatre light; Cardiology with electrocardiogram (ECG) machine, delivery beds and anaesthesia machines; and the Neonatal Intensive Care Section equipped with infant incubators, ventilators, newborn hearing screener, infusion pump and infant warmer/resuscitator. The Neonatal Intensive Care Section also has air/oxygen blender with flow meter, neonatal laryngoscopes, phototherapy machines and infant resuscitation modules. Other sections are the oxygen generating system and gas plant and outlet.
Similarly, the Advanced Diagnostic Centre has an operating theatre with associated facilities; the Radiology Section with digital x-ray, mammography and ultrasound machines, CT scanner, picture archiving and communication system (PACS); the Laboratory Section equipped with chemistry and haematology analysers, immune-haematology system, blood bank, blood bank centrifuge, plasma thawer and lab freezer.
The centre also has the Cardiology Section equipped with echocardiography, stress test equipment, holter machine, ambulatory blood pressure measurement machine and ECG machine, as well as the Endoscopy Section with video gastroscope and colonoscope, endoscope towers, monitors. Also, there is the Medical Gas Plant and Outlet with its associated facilities.
There is a reason the facility is tagged a specialist hospital. The personnel are topnotch with all sections adequately manned by consultants, ranging from consultants gynaecologists and obstetricians to consultant pathologists, consultant radiologists, consultants gastroenterologists and consultants paediatricians. There are also specialists in other medical fields such as pharmacy, laboratory science and nursing.
With such high-powered manpower capacity, the twin facilities of the Mother and Child Specialist Hospital and the Advanced Diagnostic Medical Complex are available for x-ray, 128 CT scan with cardio-angiography and contrast studies, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI 2.5 T), mammography, and ultrasound (4/3D) services. Also available are general laboratory services including medical biochemistry, virology, microbiology, hormone tests for various tumour markers, and tertiary level cardiology with stress ECG. Others are obstetrics/neonatal/child health services, endoscopy and IVF and pre-implantation genetic services.
Medical experts say women die as a result of complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth. They believe most of these complications develop during pregnancy and most are preventable or treatable. According to them, other complications may exist before pregnancy but are worsened during pregnancy, especially if not managed as part of the woman’s care.
Findings indicate that the major complications that account for about 75 percent of all maternal deaths are severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth), infections (usually after childbirth), high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia), complications from delivery and unsafe abortion. The remainder, the experts say, are caused by or associated with infections such as malaria or related to chronic conditions like cardiac diseases or diabetes.
In the same vein, the leading causes of death in children under five years have been identified to include preterm birth complications, birth asphyxia/trauma, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria, all of which, experts are unanimous, can be prevented or treated with access to affordable interventions in health and sanitation.
From 2008 to 2018, Delta State has had a steady decline of maternal mortality from as high as 391 in 2008 to 158 in 2015 and 113 per 100,000 live births in 2018 while for under-five mortality, it has equally been declining from 22 in 2011 to 16 per 1,000 live births in 2018. With the facilities, personnel and services at the Mother and Child Specialists Hospital and the Advanced Diagnostic Centre, observers are enthusiastic that some of the associated challenges with maternal and under-five health in the state will be a thing of the past and the indicators further improved upon.
Although the projects are said to be addressing medical care in enhancing health and wellbeing of the people of the state and others, residents are also counting the socioeconomic gains from personal to group and the generality of society.
In the opinion of some residents of the state, the Diagnostic Center and Mother and Child Specialist Hospital will not only serve the purpose of bringing succour to women and children, it will also boost their economic base.
According to Mr. Chooqs Okoh, a staff of Peniel Academy, Boji-Boji Owa, the specialist hospital has brought government presence closer to the people.
“We didn’t have such a structure or infrastructure in Ika land before now so it’s a big deal and very commendable.
“It will definitely go a long way to curb mortality rate in the area and environs. Also, it has brought health care to our people who used to travel far for health care purposes,” he stated.
Okoh, said that citing such a project would boost the economic and social status of the state and also add what he referred to as tremendous value to the locality and the people.
“From the angle of job creation, Deltans and people from other states will be employed. Indigenes and locals will also benefit in diverse ways. The effect is massive and we won’t be able to quantify the impact now.
“In the next 30 to 60 years, this hospital will be here; it will outlive both this government and the people that built it. Surely it will influence countless generations,” he said.
Pastor Manifestation Odili, a businessman, described the projects as some of the greatest achievements of the Okowa-led government, justifying it on the ground that they would have generational impact, urging the state government to put modalities on ground to maintain the facilities and equipment.
On her part, Mrs. Emmanuella Agbobu, a POS operator noted that during construction of the hospital, her daily transactions tripled, saying that customers besieged her daily.
“This institution is a blessing to Ika people and to me and my family particularly. Certainly other people who stay around here have several positive testimonies about the hospital,” she stated.
The Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Ward 14, Otolokpo Community, Mr. Philip Kikeme said that Governor Okowa had proven that he knew the needs of the people.
“The hospital is a proof of the present government’s interest in the prosperity and wellbeing of the people. Building a stadium will not be bad, but a hospital of such magnitude with the state of the art health care infrastructure is laudable,” he stated.
According to Mrs. Easter Aliemeke, the projects would reduce the burden of traveling to Benin City, Asaba, Lagos, Oghara and other places for healthcare management.
She stated: “Many people have died on their way to other distant places. Also, that it will be managed by the government, I believe it will be more affordable for the people.
“Sincerely, I never knew it was a hospital that was built. This is among the kind of development we have been praying for and seeking for over the years. Thank God for Okowa and other people for this life-saving project.”
In all of the views, observers are clear on one thing; that the twin projects are realities that represent the enactment of lasting legacies.
Additional report by Christian Ogoh
