Concerned over the increasing indices of maternal and newborn mortality, a group of Civil Society Organisations (CSO) has launched the Niger State-led Accountability Mechanism for Health with focus on maternal and newborn health.
The accountability mechanism, which was inaugurated by Options Consultancy Services, E4A-MamaYe in Minna, comprise state government officials, civil society organisations, partners, community leaders, media and other health professionals.
According to the Niger State Advisor, E4A-Mamaye, Imo Chinasa Ude, the mechanism will collaboratively identify health priority issues affecting women and children in Niger State and engage in activities geared towards addressing them.
She stated that the reason for the accountability mechanism is to make civil society coalitions work in partnership with government to ensure that resources used to improve the quality of health services across the continuum of care and the actors are held to account on their commitments.
“This is a multi-country programme that aims to improve the lives of women, mothers, and babies. In Nigeria, we have supported Ondo, Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi, Lagos, and Gombe states to translate complex health system data into simple formats easy to interpret and use to identify gaps in the health system, inform plans, resource allocation and expenditure.
“We are expanding our support model into Niger State, with the objective of facilitating sustainable coalitions and partnerships to use evidence to identify local Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) priorities, and develop, influence and implement strategies to achieve progress against key outcomes.”
Inaugurating the co-chairs and secretary of the state-led Accountability Mechanism, the Niger State Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Muhammad Maikusidi, applauded the initiative, saying it would go a long way in addressing the problems bedevilling the health sector in the state.
By Justina Asishana, Minna