Mayowa Adeniran
@mayowalive
In a bid to raise awareness of maternal and child mortality, Nigeria will mark the 2016 Safe Motherhood Day on the 23rd and 24th of August 2016.
The celebration is an initiative aimed at examining issues around availability and adequate access to care during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal services.
The theme for the Day is, “Saving Mother’s and Baby’s lives: A Worthy Investment for National Development.”
A release made available to MAP NEWS by Development Communications Network, a partner organization noted that ‘although government had begun initiatives targeted at women and children, the pace of decline in maternal mortality is slow, coupled with declining state of our health care system.
“Nigeria remains one of the countries of the world that still records high maternal and child mortality with about 150 deaths among women of reproductive age due to pregnancy complications,” the organization observed.
“In order to accelerate efforts towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals, there is need for renewed political will and commitment of resources towards improving maternal and child health care.”
The need to surmount these challenges prompted the theme of the 2016 event, the statement noted.
NOTE; Safe Motherhood Day is celebrated annually in different countries on selected dates. In Nigeria it is celebrated on the 22nd of May. This year, the Federal Ministry of Health could not mark the day as expected and decided that the event should be celebrated on the 23rd and 24th of August 2016.
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