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OPM’s Free Specialist Hospital: New Healthcare Direction in Nigeria

Omega Power Ministry free specialist hospital in Rivers State
Omega Power Ministry free specialist hospital in Rivers State

NAN Features

By Emmanuel Afonne, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

A joint report on maternal mortality by the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, World Bank and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that Nigeria has approximately 58,000 maternal deaths, accounting for 19 per cent globally.

This means that at least 800 women die in every 100,000 live births and to address the high maternal mortality rates, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, in July 2017 inaugurated a 34-member Taskforce to accelerate reduction of maternal mortality in Nigeria.

The high maternal mortality rate in Nigeria as revealed by the reports of the world renowned agencies became a source of worry for Apostle Chibuzor Chinyere, the founder and General Overseer of Omega Power Ministries (OPM).

“I sat down and asked myself what can be done to reduce maternal mortality and to help these women who don’t have money to carter for their healthcare, that is why we decided to build this free specialist hospital,” he said.

As it stands, hope of a better healthcare seems to have come the way of the poor and less privileged in Nigeria, especially those in Port Harcourt, Rivers State with the construction and inauguration of a Free Specialist Hospital by the OPM.

The hospital which renders specialist services also offers antenatal and postnatal cares. This is a welcome development as hundreds of people die daily, especially pregnant women because of their inability to pay and access quality healthcare.

The OPM Free Specialist Hospital inaugurated on April 17 has automatically joined the league of private hospitals in the country to help to address the high rate of maternal mortality, but with direct focus on the less privileged and down trodden in Port Harcourt at present.

Another fact worthy of mention is that the hospital is not open to only members of the church but to all members of the society irrespective of religion, tribe, colour or ethnicity.

According to the 2005 Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH)’s census, Nigeria has about 23,640 health facilities out of which, 85.8 per cent are primary healthcare facilities, 14 per cent are secondary and 0.2 per cent tertiary. Out of these number, about 9,000 of these facilities belong to the private sector.

The Chairman, Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, Ogun State chapter, Dr Rabiu Kusimo, captured it all when he said that the reason Nigerians are not getting good treatment from hospitals in the country is because government treats private practitioners as competitors.

Kusimo, who is also the Medical Director of Lafiya Medical Centre, Abeokuta, urged government at all levels to begin to see private hospitals practitioners as partners in progress in the health sector, lamenting that taxes and levies the private hospitals pay are becoming unbearable.

“To be very modest, we are not getting the best in Nigerian hospitals, but the truth is that where people get the best, government champions it.

“Government does not come out the way our government does things here. What government does in other places is that they stay back and support private initiatives.

“There are governmental institutions to take care of health, but government is there to make sure that everybody is covered under insurance, so, insurance covers you which makes you not to bother when you are going to hospital. Because people are sick and they cannot afford health facilities, their health status gets worse.

“Also, government should stop seeing private institution as a competitor and they should support private initiatives; the taxes and levies private hospitals pay are becoming unbearable.

“If government sees us as a people who are trying to complement their efforts in the health sector by delivering good healthcare to the people, then the state of health will get better.”

For Kusimo, the free hospital which is privately owned will go a long way to change lives in the area where it is located but that it is like a drop of water in an ocean in the achievement of WHO and the Federal Government Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target on health.

Kusimo’s concern is a wake-up call to the Federal and State Governments to support the private sector like the OPM free hospital, if it must achieve the SDGs target which among other things seek to achieve universal health coverage, access to quality essential healthcare services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

Aerial view of Omega Power Ministry free specialist hospital in Rivers State
Aerial view of Omega Power Ministry free specialist hospital in Rivers State

Apostle Chinyere has also called for support from government, individuals and international organisations to ensure the church replicates the free hospital in every nook and cranny of the country to guarantee easy and free access to health for the less privileged people.

He has called for proper deployment of the tithes and offerings members pay in different churches, to the service of humanity.

The OPM founder has wondered why “men of God” focus more on possession of highly expensive goods of ostentatious value, while living fat on the tithes and offerings of their members most of whom live in abject poverty and squalor.

No wonder he called on his fellow “men of God” wherever they are to emulate such good works of offering free services to the poor in order to show that they are real believers in the teachings of Christ Jesus.

“’It is important to note that everything in the hospital is free from antenatal care, post-natal care, delivery bags etc,” he said.

Just like the church did in the education sector where it established 12 free schools at different locations in the country, Apostle Chinyere has continued to crack kernel for the poor irrespective of race, creed, tongue or religion, as far as quality healthcare and safe child delivery is concerned.

He said that it is with the tithes and offerings from members that the hospital was built and that it is with same that the church operates the 12 free schools, rehabilitated repentant criminals and sex workers, and also built free estates for the homeless.

“It is from the tithes and offerings that we were also able to build free skill acquisition centers, free restaurants and other philanthropic ventures.”

Establishing the free hospital didn’t come as a surprise. Activities of the hospital dated back to 2010 when the founder of the church introduced a free antenatal care for the less privileged pregnant women in some Abia communities and Aluu town in Rivers State.

The gesture eventually resulted in the construction of the free hospital in Port Harcourt to ensure the less privileged continued to have access to good healthcare.

The hospital which boasts of state-of-the-art equipment has ambulance services that can respond quickly to any distress call and uninterrupted electric supply.

According to Apostle Chinyere, prominent figures in the field of medicine among whom is Prof. Henry Ugboma, the Chief Medical Director (CMD), University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), are in charge of recruitment of Doctors and Nurses for the hospital in order to get the best personnel.

“We are in partnership with the UPTH, in case of any complicated issue that we can’t handle and then we move them there.

“All these things are done free; the people are not paying one Kobo for the services and we are working to establish more free hospital across the country. (NANFeatures)

**If used, please credit the writer as well as the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Health

Maternal mortality: We must all take action – Aisha Buhari

Maternal mortality: We must all take action – Aisha Buhari
NAN-HG-4
Mortality
By Yetunde Fatungase
Abeokuta, Feb. 7, 2018 (NAN) Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, says everybody must take responsibility and strategic action towards addressing high maternal and child mortality in the country.
Mrs Buhari made the appeal in Abeokuta at three-day training workshop for the South West region in Abeokuta, Ogun.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was based on reproductive Maternal Newborn Child Adolescence Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N).
Represented by Mrs Gimbiya Dogara, the wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs Buhari said people at the workshop had the potentials to influence the indices and change the trajectory for good.
According to her, deaths do not happen at the Presidential Villa alone but in all the states of the country and thus the need for all hands to be on deck.
She said strategic actions must be regional based because the uniqueness and peculiarity of each population cannot be left out.
“I wouldn’t bore you with the disheartening statistics of maternal and child mortality or the huge cost of malnutrition in Nigeria.
“I know that this room is occupied with knowledgeable individuals and key stakeholders who have the capacity to influence the indices and change our trajectory for good.
“It is however important to note these deaths happen in the states that constitutes Nigeria, not just at the Presidential Villa.
“And except every one of us takes responsibility and strategic action towards addressing these issues in our immediate regions, they may remain unchanged and even grow worse.
“We cannot also leave out the uniqueness and peculiarity of each population that’s is why we’ve chosen to come down to the zones where we can find more common grounds to address maternal and child mortality,” she said.
NAN recalls that the wife of the president had on Oct. 9, 2017, launched the Governors Wives Advocacy Coalition in Abuja.
NAN also reports that Mrs Buhari established the coalition with promise to support the states activities by carrying out capacity building workshops with the Governor’s wife as the Chief Advocate and other technical officers.
The wives of the governors of the South Western states and other stakeholders were present at the event which would end on Thursday.
Participants are expected to take part in technical sessions throughout the workshop. (NAN)
YAF/GOM/MST
Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Muhammad Suleiman Tola

Health

Devcoms, NURHI seek collaboration with media on how to stem maternal mortality

 

 

 

 

 

Devcoms/PHSAI/NURHI team presenting media kit to Mr Peter Obakhedo, head of editorial services NAN Lagos office
Mr Idonije  Obakhedo, Head of Editorial Services, NAN Lagos Office receiving media kit from Mr Abraham Adekoya, while Mr Akin Jimoh (Right), the Programme Director, DEVCOMS and  Mrs Appolonia Eke,  look with interest

 

NAN-HG-9
Maternal
By Busayo Onijala/Vivian Ihechu
Lagos, Jan. 31, 2018 (NAN) An NGO, Development Communications Network (DEVCOMS), has called for collaboration with the media for improved maternal and child health to reduce high burden of maternal deaths in Nigeria.

Mr Akin Jimoh, the Programme Director, DEVCOMS, made the call on Wednesday during a courtesy visit to the Lagos Operations of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at Iganmu, Lagos.

Jimoh was accompanied on the visit by Mrs Appolonia Eke, a Family Planning Consultant and Financial Secretary, Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Initiative (PHSAI), Lagos.

Other members of the visiting team were Mr Abraham Adekoya, Vice-Chairman, Interfaith Group of Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) and Devcoms Head of Programmes, Ms Ikeoluwa Otudeko.

Mr Idonije Obakhedo, the Deputy-Editor-in-Chief and Head of NAN, Lagos Editorial Services, received the team on behalf of Mr Mike Mbonye, the Director/Head of Lagos Operations.

Jimoh said, “It is regrettable that a large proportion of women still lose their lives to pregnancy and childbirth-related complications.

“In Lagos State alone, statistics show that 555 women out of 100,000 die annually in Lagos as a result of complications during pregnancy and childbirth; it is equivalent to six women dying every hour.

“A lot of factors account for these needless deaths; there is need to stem them and it requires increased collaborative efforts and massive sensitisation.

“The media can play a major role in this because they checkmate government policies, ensure that there is accountability, as well as give out the right information to the public.

“Yet, we need to do more because these deaths are under-reported, especially when it has to do with under-developed, rural and semi-rural areas.’’

According to him, maternal mortality is not an issue to be overlooked; its causes are broad ranging from unwanted pregnancy which lead to abortions, haemorrhage, sepsis, poor healthcare services and delays.

“They include inability to take prompt decisions before going to a health facility, unavailability of transportation to access, as well as the proximity of health facilities.

“Delays can also come from factors that affect prompt treatment such as power supply, unavailability of qualified medical personnel, drugs, consumables among others.

“There is need for individuals, health workers, government and the media to know that we are all stakeholders in this issue.

“We can be victims in one way or the other; so, it is necessary to intensify the need for good maternal health because without good health, we cannot function well,’’ Jimoh said.

Also, Mrs Appolonia Eke of PHSAI, Lagos, said, “Media are integral in achieving the desired aim of reducing maternal mortality.

“If they show the kind of commitment that was shown during the time we had Ebola crisis in Nigeria, through the dissemination of right information, the rate of deaths from complications of pregnancy and childbirth will be reduced.

“There is need for people to understand and embrace family planning (child spacing) and the use of contraceptive methods.

“Child spacing helps to avoid the proven challenges that women face in pregnancy and childbirth, especially when they are too young, old, or when pregnancies are too close or too many.

“Successful child spacing programmes improve quality of life and significantly contribute to demographic dividends and national development.”

Eke said that advocacy and enlightenment campaigns should be continuous, especially in the rural and semi-urban areas to highlight the importance of accessing healthcare services and family planning.

Also commenting, Mr Abraham Adekoya, the Vice-Chairman, Interfaith Group of NURHI, said, “ It is important that people know the right information on family planning (child spacing) and use of contraceptives.

“This is because adequate information will help to correct some of the myths and misconceptions and break barriers surrounding the use of contraceptives in Nigeria.

“There should be more investment in family planning services in terms of funding and advocacy, because failure to take action will result to dire consequences.

“When a woman dies, it is not just a loss to family, but a loss to the nation; this is because the nation loses out on her contributions to the social and economic development,’’ Adekoya said.

Earlier, Obakhedo commended the Devcoms team for their commitment to the health sector, especially the drive to ensure that women enjoyed good maternal health.

He said that the agency was committed to disseminating right and balanced information to members of the public.

Obakhedo pledged the support of NAN toward realising the goals on health,
especially in reducing maternal and child mortality, improving maternal health to achieve a better Nigeria.

Obakhedo was joined by Mr Silas Nwoha, Deputy-Editor-in-Chief (DEIC) Metro), Mr Tajudeen Atitebi (DEIC/Head of Economics Desk), Mr Peter Ejiofor (DEIC Sports), Mr Olagoke Olatoye, (AEIC, Head, Health and Gender Desk) and Mrs Vivian Ihechu, Editor. (NAN)
OMB/VIV/GOK
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Editing by Vivian Ihechu/Olagoke Olatoye

 

Health

Bayelsa Govt pledges to reduce maternal mortality

Bayelsa Govt pledges to reduce maternal mortality

NAN-HG-10

Mortality

By Christian Ogbonna

Yenagoa, July 10, 2017 (NAN) The Bayelsa Government on Monday pledged to reduce the cases of maternal mortality in the state.

Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, the state Commissioner for Health, said this at a news conference in Yenagoa as part of activities marking this year’s Maternal, Newborn and Child Healthcare Week (MNCHW).

Etebu said that the programme focused on strengthening routine service delivery at the health facilities in all the local government areas of the state.

He said the weeklong programme, organised to deliver integrated, high impact, low cost, result oriented, effective, preventive and curative health care services, would round end on Friday.

The commissioner, however, noted that the impact was geared towards shoring up maternal and child indices in the areas of intervention embarked upon.

“The interventions to embark upon during the week include, vitamin A supplementation in children, de-worming of children, nutritional assessment of children.

“Others are iron/folate supplementation for pregnant women, routine immunisation for children, women of child bearing age and pregnant women, intermittent treatment of malarial in pregnant woman, HIV counselling and testing, among others,” he said.

He explained that quality healthcare delivery was imperative to mankind, saying that the programme would go a long way to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health of the people.

“The 2013 Nigeria Demographic and health survey (NDHS) indicate high neonatal, under-five and maternal mortality.

“The maternal mortality rate (MMR 1870/100, 000) in Bayelsa state is one of the poorest in the south-south zone and by extension, the country as a whole,” Etebu said.

The commissioner restated government readiness to reach out to the riverine communities in the state during the period of the programme, adding that health officers are fully on ground to ensure success. (NAN)

OOC/MST
Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola