Ebonyi Govt, NEMSAS partner to improve maternal, child healthcare

The Ebonyi State government has attracted the services of the National Emergency Medical Service and Ambulance System, NEMSAS, and the Rural Emergency Services Medical Ambulance Transport, RESMAT, for faster medical responses in the state.

The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Moses Ekuma, disclosed this on Monday during a press briefing in Abakiliki.

Ekuma assured that the state government’s partnership with NEMSAS is in line with the healthcare reforms of President Bola Tinubu through the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative in Ebonyi State.

According to him, the state government, through the state Ministry of Health, has been committed to implementing the objectives of NEMSAS to enhance health indices.

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.”

He further affirmed that Ebonyi is the only state enrolled for RESMAT service in the entire South East.

DAILY POST recalls that the 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 is one of the beneficiaries.

Dr Emuren Doubra, Head of Operation of NEMSAS, who led a delegation to the commissioner at the State Health Complex in Ochoudo Centenary City, Abakaliki, said the programme is aimed at ensuring that Nigerians, especially rural dwellers and the 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 prioritises 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 embrace the programme to enhance whatever initiative is on 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.

Ebonyi Govt, NEMSAS partner to improve maternal, child healthcare