FCT To Establish Emergency Maternal, Child Health Intervention Center  

By Austine Elemue, S.A Media To FCT Minister of State
FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has revealed that preparations for the establishment of the FCT Emergency Maternal and Child Health Intervention Center has reached a critical stage with the appointment of the programme manager after a competitive selection process.
The minister made this revelation during the inauguration and handing-over of maternal and child health clinic in Waru area of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). executed by the Innercity mission for children of Christ Embassy, Abuja.
Aliyu further revealed that by this year, 2020, renovation of 12 PHC facilities would be completed, 6 PHC clinics upgraded to PHC Centers and 6 more PHC centers would be rehabilitated across the six Area Councils, stressing that due to paucity of funds the administration is adopting a phased approach to fix the problems at the primary healthcare centres.
The minister who commended the innercity mission for children of Christ Embassy, also used the occasion to implore other religious bodies to emulate what she described as “purposeful partnership”.
According to her, “I have to reiterate the seriousness and urgency the FCT Administration handles matters impacting on maternal and child health services particularly when preventable deaths among these groups are still issues of public health concern.
“Preparations for the establishment of the FCT Emergency Maternal and Child Health Intervention Center has reached a critical stage with the appointment of the programme manager after a competitive selection process. The Administration cannot do this alone therefore purposeful partnership as demonstrated here is a great option”.
Aliyu assured the donor that the Administration, through its Primary Health Care Board will take charge of this facility, adding that one NYSC Doctor with 2 Midwives would be posted to improve quality of care and number of deliveries attended to by skilled birth attendants in Waru and surrounding communities.
Earlier, the pastor, Christ Embassy Abuja Ministry Centre, Rev. Tom Amenkhienan, said the Christ Oyakhilome Foundation, the umbrella body of Innercity for Children has brought respite, hope, and succour to the needy and vulnerable faced with the aftermaths of war and natural disaster around the globe.
He said that the mission’s intervention in providing the paediatric and maternal healthcare facility for Waru community was borne out of passion for the plight of indigent children, stressing that since 2017, the mission has carried out diverse interventions to bring joy and improve the quality of life of rural communities.
Amenkhienan revealed that financing this project came from a common purse of pooled contributions by public spirited individuals, sacrificial offerings by mission members among other support from God fearing individuals and corporate bodies, just as he called on the benefiting communities to put the facility to good use.