The Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora has stated that collaboration and partnerships with international and local, private individuals as well as with private organizations are inevitable for the realization of the goals of the health sector, particularly now that the nation is looking towards universal health coverage.
Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora stated this whilst responding to the submissions of the Country Director of Marie Stopes Intโl Organization in Nigeria (MSION), Effiom N. Effiom who led a team of his Organization to visit the Minister of State in his Office to seek partnership of Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) for its โMSI2030 Goalsโ on Thursday, 5th November, 2020. MSION team includes Dr. Kingsley Odogwu, its Director of Clinical Services and Mrs. Yemisi Omekeh, MSIONโs Director of Procurement and Logistics.
The โMSI2030 Goalsโ of the Organization is wrapped around a vision of ensuring and helping Nigerian Women to have โchildren by choice and not by chanceโ and that โevery birth is wanted.โ By this a target of 120 Million women and girls will be served with high quality Safe Reproductive Health (SRH) Services โguaranteeing that 80% will be those with the greatest needโ and ensuring that 1 out 4 women have their demand for contraception met by Marie Stopes International (MSI) or MSI-Supported Service; as well as significantly reducing unsafe abortion through having 1 in 3 supported to have it by MSI.
The visiting Country Director of MSION disclosed to the Honourable Minister that his organization work collaboratively with Government at National, State and LGA levels to strengthen healthcare delivery; offer comprehensive services that enable women all over Nigeria to choose their reproductive health future through various service delivery channels and tailoring its service delivery to ensure that no one is left behind.
With the mentioned service delivery of the Company, it ensures safe abortion and post-abortion care services (PACs) and helped women to access contraception. With the support of partners, the Company delivered high-quality contraception and PAC to women and girls wherever they live.
Effiom N. Effiom further disclosed that his organization is seeking partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and this is justified by the records MSION achieved in 2019 whereby 1.9 Million unintended pregnancies were averted; 840, 000 unsafe abortions averted through the 1.05 Million safe abortion and post-abortion services provided and 3.7 Million women accessing the contraceptives provided by the organization for Nigerians.
He went further to reveal that 11, 000 Maternal Deaths were averted stating that 23% of MSIONโs client-visits are under the age of 20 and 120, 000 adolescents reached each year.
The Minister of State told his visitors that there is need to have collaboration and partnership to support universal health coverage goals. He said in seeking the collaboration and partnership however, there is a need to touch on availability, accessibility and affordability of the services that are of the type which the Country Director of MSION was talking about.
Dr. Mamora listed โStudents, people across board, even workers, cutting across cultural divides of the Nigerian demographicsโ as people who procure the services of MSION. The Honourable Minister said to improve on the existing partnership between FMOH and the organization therefore is โfrom a point of enlightened self-interest.โ
Further supporting his claim of a need to collaborate and partner with MSION in what it does for the segment of the Nigerian population; Mamora said โEven when right to life is guaranteed in our Constitution, it should be by choice and not by accident.โ
