Maternal Mortality; Chasing Shadows

Yesterday evening, I read a disturbing report about how the Federal Government is proposing to pay a sort of 'bursary' of N5,000 to women who attend antenatal clinics across the country. This they believe will help reduce the currently absurd maternal mortality rate in Nigeria. 


I was not just shocked, I was also incensed.


Honestly, I think we need to start shooting some of our policy makers. It is bad enough that they do not respect us as citizens, they do not need to rub it on our faces that they are in power. I would rather they kept mute and let us suffer peacefully than patronize us. They are incredible people.


Now, superficially, it looks like an ingenuous idea. Give Mrs A N5,000 for registering for antenatal care and she'll spread the news when she gets home that FG is doing a bonanza in the hospital. Mrs B and Mrs C - being rural woman who are uneducated and barely make enough to feed themselves - rush down to the hospital to register for antenatal and collect their own N5,000. What next? Does the FG plan to pay the women at every antenatal visit till they deliver or is this cheap propaganda just for the first booking visit? 


Reports say 60,000 Nigerian pregnant women die annually. Staggering figure. WHO puts it at 840 per 100,000 live-births. http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?v=2223. That's a brief summary of the gravity of the situation. We are only better than about 8 countries in the world. This top 9 list also has about 6 war-torn countries. Even Iraq comes in at 85 per 100,000 live-births. Notably, Greece has a maternal mortality rate of 2 per 100,000 live-births. Greece is supposed to be in economic chaos. Nigerians, smile...Jesus loves you!


I really would like to meet the proponents of this N5,000-antenatal theory. They are surely imbeciles. To believe that the panacea to our growing maternal mortality rate is giving monetary incentives to pregnant women. Do we even think at all in Nigeria? Am I the only person amazed by such folly? Surely, not only does this government not respect us but they also mock us!


Goal 5 of the Millennium Development Goals concerns improving maternal health. The goal is time-bound to 2015, that is 3years away. It will take something cosmic to get us to achieve this particular goal in 3years. While the Federal Ministry of Health continues to embezzle money ear-marked for MDG's and contractors walk away smiling, it will translate to foolishness to have such hope. Only last week, I read reports of how FMOH fraudulently siphons money by over-inflating contracts. Yet, we continue to mention 2015.


The rot is now so unfettered that the best the brains in FMOH can now come up with is to offer money to improve antenatal patronage. Seriously?


The theory must be a joke. The government is yet to tackle the root of the problem. It is only proposing to scratch the surface or at best, coat the decay superficially. The crux of the matter remains the sacred 'Siamese twins' - Education and Health.


Educate these women. Give them sound and quality basic education and empower them. An educated woman knows she should seek antenatal care when she gets pregnant. You do not need to give her a kobo. Why? Its simple. She understands.


She understands the essence and concept of antenatal care. She understands the benefits of antenatal care. She understands the dangers of poor care during pregnancy. She can afford antenatal care. When the hospitals are available, accessible and affordable, the women will come. When the hospital staff are well trained and well remunerated to attend to these women then we won't need to give them a dime to encourage them to show up for antenatal care. The goal must be to ensure these women understand the entire concept. It is not enough to throw money at them as if to say 'Oya take N5,000...if you like come back, if you like go and die!'


How dare this government handle our lives with such levity and callousness. It is wicked for anyone to allow this trend to continue unchecked and to think that the best solution they can proffer is monetary incentive for antenatal care is grossly shameful and absurd. Woe to all such simpletons.


Like a dog chasing its own tail, we'll keep running in circles. Movement but no progress. Talk but no action. Steam but no motion. A total sham and farce of a government. 


By 2015, I suspect strongly that the figures would have doubled. Maybe that's the plan really. To see how high maternal mortality can reach before the rope snaps. Its 60,000 per year now, maybe our aim is 500,000 by 2015.


Trust me, at this rate, we'll be there sooner than later.