Organisation Urges Government To Invest In Nursing, Midwifery Education

A Non-Governmental Organisation, Well-being Foundation Africa, has stressed the need for governments and spirited Nigerians to focus on targeted investments in nursing and midwifery.

The Founder of the Organisation Mrs. Saraki, made the call at a workshop organised for nurses and midwives on Monday, in Abuja.

She said reductions in neonatal mortality had lagged behind those of maternal, infant and child mortality, due to less attention and investment.

Saraki said that the country had the knowledge and tools to prevent at least two-thirds of the deaths. She said the country must advocate strengthening and investing in professional care during labour, birth, and the first day and week of life.

She further said that governments needed to invest in front-line staff, and must invest in midwives.

According to her, her foundation is with a clear mission for structured philanthropy, full of optimism to collaborate with strategic partners.

Saraki said that the primary aim of the foundation was to find the best practical solutions to reach a national scale.

She said that Kwara had done a lot in the area of maternal health and midwifery health.

According to her, the state is uniquely innovated towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

She said that the World Health Organisation has recognised the state as a routine community of practice – a perinatal births and deaths audit.

The Director of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Dr. Morenike Afex-Okoh, in her remarks said that mental health was an integral part of health and wellbeing, as reflected in the definition of health.

Afex-Okoh sad that mental health included emotional psychological and social wellbeing.

According to her, it affects how a person thinks, feels, and acts, it also helps to determine how one handles issues related to others and makes choices.

She said that in Nigeria, there were about 250 psychiatrists available for a population of over 200 million people.

She said that the treatment gap in mental health in Nigeria was as high as 90 per cent and there were many reasons for it.

Afex-Okoh said that the country also needed to do a lot in the area of mental health.