BY AMUCHE AGBO
The Managing Director of National Obstetrics Fistula Centre (NOFIC) Prof. Joshon Obuna has urged pregnant Women across the Country to avoid visiting substandard hospitals to guarantee their safety during delivery.
Prof. Obuna made this known to newsmen during an inspection to various wards of the hospital in Abakaliki, the state capital.
The health expert observed that proper good care need to be giving to pregnant women to curb fistula and maternal death in the society.
He charged pregnant women to endeavor to attend antenatal care in the standard hospitals for their own betterment.
According to Prof. Obuna, women should desist from visiting quack doctors, even as he observed that poor maternity services cause fistula and by extension death.
He noted that all the services rendered to fistula patients in the hospital are free of charge and called on pregnant women from Ebonyi State and beyond to come for antenatal care and delivery, saying the hospital remains the best in quality service delivery and relatively cheap compare to other hospitals in the State.
He further stated that the Fistula centre since the intervention of the Wife of Ebonyi State Governor, Chief (Mrs) Rachel Umahi had yielded fruitful results especially the payment of repaired fistula patients, feeding among others.
He encouraged women to adhere strictly to the counselling of medical experts while pointing out the need for women in their first to the state fifth pregnancy to visit standard hospitals as it associated with high risk and called on health workers not to be greedy but refer any patient that he or she could not handle to the experts for proper service delivery and advised midwiferies not to deliver a woman of such categories.
He disclosed that over three thousand fistula patients have been operated and discharged from the hospital so far and thanked the Wife of Governor for her ensuring the welfare and safety of Women in the State.
However, he appealed for more assistance from both State and Federal Government, non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and well spirited individuals by providing buses and medical materials towards ameliorating the sufferings of those fistula patients.
The representative of United Nation Population Fund (UNPFA) Benedict Essong said they partnered with NOFIC and Enonyi State Government to ensure zero GDDV, maternal death and gender base violence among others.
On his part, the Coordinator Family and Upliftment Foundation, Evangelist Chukwuma Elom noted that the treatment is completely free, adding that the women would be empowered before being discharged, while calling all fistula patients to avail themselves for the free treatment.
In an interview, some of the repaired patients including Mary Samuel from Lagos, Olaido Ogechi - Enugu and Unu Veronica of Ebonyi State maintained that even a dine had never being collected from them and thanked Governor's Wife and others who have contributed in one way or the other in their treatment and prayed God to replenish them accordingly but pledged to keep all the instructions given to them at all times.
Our correspondent reports that over six patients awaiting for operation while about twelve persons have been operated waiting to be discharged at the time of the inspection.
Post a Comment