Stakeholders in the public and private health sectors have advocated availability of maternal health products in the country.
The stakeholders made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at a meeting on leveraging Public-Private Partnerships to Improve Access to Quality Maternal Medicines, organised by the Nigeria Health Watch.
Dr Kayode Afolabi, Director and Head of Reproductive Health Division, Federal Ministry of Health, said the meeting was to deliberate on improved access to quality maternal health products including Oxytocin among others.
Oxytocin is a hormone released by the pituitary gland that causes increased contraction of the uterus during labour and stimulates the ejection of milk into the ducts of the breasts
According to him, there is need to ensure that maternal health products are available in the country, if we must reduce preventable maternal death if really we must meet SDG 3 target 1.
“For us to ensure Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is very essential because about 60 per cent of services in reproductive and maternal health are provided by the private sector.”
He said that the government had been working on this to ensure deeper engagement with the private sector.
“There are number of policies that are guiding this partnership when it comes to reproductive and maternal health.
“For instance, we have the private sector engagement strategy for 2021.
“Recently, the government has approved a guideline for state level procurement of reproductive and maternal health products.
“This gives another opportunity where the private sector may come in and partner with the government,” he said.
On her part, Dr Chioma Ejekam, Consultant, Public Health Physician, said Oxytocin required cold chain supply for it to maintain its effectiveness.
She said it was important for most facilities at the primary care level to have refrigerators or reliable electricity supply for improved services.
Ejekam further said that there was need for urgent actions on the management of cold chain constraints and other steps along the supply chain.
This, she said was in terms of ensuring quality manufacturing, organised procurement and distribution of oxytocin.
Mrs Vivianne Ihekweazu, Managing Director, Nigeria Health Watch, welcoming the stakeholders, said the event became necessary because of the alarming records of reported maternal death due to use of poor-quality oxytocin.
According to her, no woman should die at child birth.
She maintained that public awareness was important to enable Nigerians check the quality of products and the expiring date before purchasing such drugs.
“The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) should continue its work as well as the Civil Society Organisations like the Nigeria Health Watch among others,” she said.