The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Moses Ikenna Ekuma, has attracted the services of the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) and the Rural Emergency Services Medical Ambulance Transport (RESMAT) to faster medical responses in the state.
Ekuma, who disclosed this during a press briefing yesterday at Abakaliki, assured of the state government partnership with the NEMSAS in line with the healthcare reforms of President Bola Tinubu through the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative in Ebonyi State.
The Commissioner commended the administrations of President Tinubu and Governor Nwifuru for prioritizing the health care of their people, saying the state government, through the state Ministry of Health, has been committed to implementing the objectives of NEMSAS to enhance the health indices.
He scored NEMSAS high for aligning with the vision of Governor Nwifuru to reduce maternal mortality and mortality of children under 5 and advised the people to embrace the programme in the interest of all, especially the downtrodden.
Explaining the purpose of attracting
NEMSAS and RESMAT to fast-track medical responses in Ebonyi, Ekuma, said: “This is aimed at transporting pregnant women as well as women in labour and under-5 children with medical emergencies in rural areas to the health facility for free, and they are also to receive free treatment within their first 24 hours in the health facility.”
“The objective of this project is to reduce secondary delay, that is, delays in transportation to the health facility, which is among the major contributors to maternal mortality and under-5 mortality.
“The performance of Ebonyi State Governor His Excellency, Rt Hon builder Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru and his amiable wife Chief Mrs Uzoamaka Ogbonna Nwifuru in the health sector, also facilitated the attraction of these services to the state, as Ebonyi State is the only state enrolled for RESMAT service in the entire South Eastern geopolitical zone of Nigeria.”
It could be recalled that President Bola Tinubu-led federal government has assured of deploying tricycles and other transport means to fast-track medical responses in 15 states of the country of which Ebonyi was one of the beneficiaries.
Dr. Emuren Doubra, Head of Operation in the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System, NEMSAS, disclosed this when he led the delegation of NEMSAS to the office of the Ebonyi State Commissioner, Dr Moses Ekuma at the State Health Complex in Ochoudo Centenary City Abakaliki, yesterday.
Dr Doubra said the programme was aimed at ensuring that Nigerians, especially the rural dwellers and less privileged, have access to critical maternal and child health services in Ebonyi and other 14 selected states in the country.
According to him, the programme would prioritize timely intervention for pregnant women and infants by deploying tricycles and boat ambulances to remote areas to address delays in Emergency transports, thereby enabling faster medical responses and potentially saving lives.
He recalled that it has been projected that by the end of 2025, not fewer than a total of 1,700,000 pregnant women dwelling in rural areas across 15 selected states across the country would have been reached by the Federal government through its NEMSAS implemented rural emergency and maternal transportation services.
Doubra said the exercise which was planned to be rolled out across 15 states of the Federation, would be geared towards demand-driven generation, behavioural change and strengthening governance in the country.
He stressed the need for the state government to tie into the programme, to enhance whatever programme on the ground in promoting maternal health and checking morbidity rates.
He said the agency would provide rural emergency and maternal transportation services for 1,700,000 pregnant women by the end of December 2025.
The State Coordinator, Dr Chinwendu Eugene-Abah, applauded the effort of the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr Moses Ikenna Ekuma, who has been working tirelessly to improve the health of our mothers and children, and his Excellency, the health oriented governor, Rt. Hon. Blder. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, who has persevered in making the health sector of Ebonyi state standardized. The State Coordinator also stressed on the need for inter-agency collaboration and rapid mobilization for the success of the programme and said her Agency would do the needful to make the program a reality towards complementing the efforts of the state governor in the health sector.
In their remarks, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Primary Health, Dr Sabinus Nwibo, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr Lawrence Ezeogo, and the Chief Executive of the Hospital Management Board, Dr James Nwali scored NEMSAS high for choosing the State for the the the programme and promised to give unflinching support to the success of the programme.
