Delta Ministry Of Health Collaborates With Sister Ministry To Save Lives
As part of measures to get Deltans, particularly women to take advantage of the reactivated emergency ambulance service, the State Ministry of Health has gone into collaboration with the Ministry of Women Affairs and Community Development in order to save lives during pregnancy emergencies.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr (Mrs.) Minnie Oseji, gave the disclosure weekend when she paid an advocacy visit to her counterpart in the Ministry of Women Affairs and Community Development, Mrs. Gladys Peugeren, on the working of the reactivated State Emergency Ambulance Service.
She said that since the Ministry of Women Affairs relates more with the women groups, they can help reach the women with the message and inform them that pregnant women who may be experiencing bleeding, convulsing or and collapsing during pregnancy and prolonged labour cases that needed to be moved to a medical facility or referrals need to take advantage of the ambulance service.
She said that the ambulance service stoped functioning in the previous administration due to some issues but that the Okowa administration reactivated the scheme few months ago and this time made it hospital based.
According to her the ambulances are located in five medical facilities namely Central hospitals Warri, Sapele, Ughelli, Agbor and General Hospital, Okwe and with the promise by the governor to increase the number for better coverage of the state.
Dr. Oseji informed her colleague that they had visited the Ministry of Transport and intends to visit the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers and ‘Keke’ operators to create awareness on the service and help pass the message to others.
To ensure effective service delivery, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health said, “we monitor the call centre - 0800 500 0100 and 0803 123 0021 and collect monthly report on how many rescue missions were carried out and also call the numbers from time to time to know if the call centres are responding to calls from the general public”.
In her response, Mrs. Gladys Peugeren, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Women Affairs and Community Development thanked her counterpart from the Health Ministry for the visit and the enlightenment campaign that she had embarked on.
She used the medium to commend Dr. Oseji on the passion and commitment she put on the job and encourage her not to relent that with such an attitude she will certainly succeed in whatever task she may embark on.
Mrs. Peugeren lauded the state governor Ifeanyi Okowa for the reactivation of the Delta State Ambulance Service that it would go a long way to save lives during critical situations.
Reflecting over a past personal experience when her late mother was alive and was in a critical health condition and one of her sisters placed a call to family members and was told to call for the services of an emergency ambulance to convene the sick mother to the hospital but unfortunately nothing like that exited in the State.
She said the Ministry of Women Affairs and Community Development has area offices in all the 25 LGAs in the State manned by Ministry Staff such as Social welfare and community officers and would use these crops of officers to disseminate the information on the activities of the emergency ambulance service.
She said nobody knows whose turn it may be next that may need help during an emergency and hence the more residents are aware of this service the better for us all.
We are ready to collaborate with you and encourage our staff to spread the good news about the ambulance service help distribute the stickers for further sensitization.