Anambra State Governor’s Wife, Nonye Soludo, has assured that the state government will continue to implement strategic health policies to eliminate maternal and infant deaths.

The governor’s wife gave the assurance in Awka, during the training of health care workers on clinical procedures for ending neonatal deaths in Anambra State.

The programme, tagged “Neonatal Roundtable and Helping Babies Breathe”, supported by UNICEF and Nonye Soludo Initiative, covers one hundred health workers each in four clusters selected from public and private health facilities in the twenty-one local government areas of the state.

Speaking at the event , Mrs. Soludo, who was represented by the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Ify Obinabo, said that she is worried by the slight increase in reported cases of neonatal deaths in Anambra, explaining that checking maternal and infant mortalities remain a major task for the state’s health care system.

She however reassured that the present administration is leaving no stone unturned in implementing strategic health management policies to protect women and children, including the ongoing free cervical cancer screening and treatment for five thousand Anambra Women and girls.

Mrs. Soludo while commending UNICEF for showing strong support to the programme, urged the participants to take the exercise seriously and to also understand that the task before them is critical in the ongoing restructuring of the state’s health sector.

On his part, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, said that the training came up after the maternal mortality review carried out in Anambra State, which showed that most cases of maternal and infant deaths occur as a result of human faults.

He noted that already the state government is engaging professionals in critical sections of the state’s health system, pointing out that the four hundred heathcare workers that would have been trained at the end of the exercise, would champion the campaign to eliminate neonatal mortality from Anambra State.

In her remark, the state Reproductive Health Coordinator, Ministry of Health, Dr Uju Okoye, praised the governor’s wife for showing interest in the programme, describing it as a proof of her passion and commitment to the wellbeing of women and children in Anambra State.

Similar training had been concluded for Nnewi and Onitsha clusters, with Ekwuluobia cluster next in line.