₦airaland Forum

The Founder of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and wife of the Nigerian Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has paid hertribute to Professor Babatunde Osotimehin, who passed away on Sunday.

In a statement made available to pressmen in Abuja on Monday, Mrs. Saraki said: “I have just learnt of the unbelievably sad news, that the global health community has lost my dear brother, Executive Director of UNFPA, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin.”

The statement reads: “In all the time since I have known Professor Babatunde, right from his time leading NACA, then as a health minister, and up until his term at UNFPA.

“I have always found him to be an indefatigably diplomatic and committed ally in our mutual goal of improving the conditions and outcomes of pregnant mothers, their newborns, children, adolescents, and their communities – this is indeed a shocking loss, and our hearts and prayers go out to the Osotimehin family, and the development family that is UNFPA .I offer my sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.”

Widely acclaimed as a breakthrough in reducing maternal mortality ratios, tranexamic acid offers a glimmer of hope to the millions of women around the world at risk of dying during childbirth every year. This new drug presents clear evidence that we have the knowledge and technology to save lives: the challenge now is its distribution and effective implementation in regions at greatest risk.

Previously used to reduce heavy menstrual periods in Western countries, tranexamic acid has been in medical use since its discovery in Japan in the 1960s. But in April of this year, an extensive trial conducted by the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene revealed a more far-reaching use of the drug, which has the effect of stopping blood clots from breaking down. When administered to women experiencing postpartum haemorrhage (or PPH), which affects around 6% of births, the drug can lower the amount of blood lost by mothers, and was shown to reduce maternal deaths from PPH by a 30%. What’s more, the drug is already readily available, and costs just $3 per injection.

In the developed world, death during childbirth is rare – in fact the OECD average maternal mortality ratio I just 11 deaths per every 100,000 births. Sadly, this is not the case everywhere. In Nigeria, the country of my birth, a woman incurs a 1 in 23 risk of dying during child birth in her lifetime. In Chad, with one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world, this figure is closer to 1 in 17.

It is countries such as these that can benefit the most from tranexamic acid. Maternal mortality is the second biggest global killer of women of child bearing age globally. This fact is made ever more poignant when national, or continental figures are compared. In Europe, for example, maternal mortality is a near-negligible figure. But in Sub-Saharan Africa, the risk of maternal mortality remains painstakingly high. A drug as cheap and effective as tranexamic acid provides a rare opportunity for continental divides to converge – by preventing a third of PPH deaths worldwide (of which a shocking 99% are from Sub-Saharan Africa), we are a significant step closer to fair and equal maternal care around the world.

As the Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Africa’s premier maternal health and gender rights charity, I have dedicated much of my life towards the fight for equality and justice for mothers and infants. Tranexamic acid has the potential to create radical, irreversible change in the field of global midwifery and maternal care, and as an advocate of improved maternal outcomes, it is my duty and my wish to drive it. We have the knowledge, now we need the commitment.

The world can ignore the dire state of the world’s midwifery no longer. Gaping disparities between rich and poor countries present both the challenge, and the steadfast drive, to strive for better outcomes for women in a world where no woman need fear death during childbirth.

Immediate and widespread distribution of tranexamic acid is undoubtedly a step in the right direction but this needs to be met with a greater commitment from governments to boosting maternal health outcomes. Just $3 can save the life of a woman – a mother. We are also bound by a global commitment to reduce maternal mortality; outlined in SDG 3, the goal is to reduce maternal mortality rates to 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030. Maternal deaths not only signify a waste of life, but serve to massively and negatively impact the lives of their infants and communities, and remain a constant, and impenetrable barrier to development. Investing in better maternal health therefore serves as both a means in itself, and an end, to be prioritised accordingly.

When I established my foundation over 25 years ago, the outlook for maternal care in Nigeria, and beyond, looked bleak. Since then, Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio has nearly halved. Although this achievement is commendable, it can only go so far in addressing the inadequacies in maternal care in Nigeria and in Africa. Progress has been made, but there remains much work to be done.

It is my hope that the ground-breaking tranexamic acid will mark a new era in maternal care around the globe, and that its positive impact can be matched, through heightened investment and commitment to the cause. The drug provides hope – now we must follow through.

Toyin Ojora Saraki is the Founder and President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, a pan-African maternal health and gender rights organisation, headquartered in Nigeria.

Wellbeing Foundation Africa Adolescent Personal Social And Health Education Program Expands To Abuja Schools


As global development stakeholders commemorated World Menstruation Hygiene Day, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, led by Toyin Saraki, Wife of Nigeria's Senate President has expanded its landmark Adolescent Skills and Drills Personal Social And Health Education campaign to teenage girls in the Abuja metropolis, Federal Capital Territory, delivering confidence building information on menstrual hygiene to the students of Anglican Catholic School.

In a lively outreach session led by Wellbeing Youth Counselors, the teenage students of the Anglican Catholic School in Apo were taught about to menstrual hygiene management, based on the newly developed WBFA Adolescents Skills & Drills Handbook, and launched the Puberty instructional series of Medical Aid Films. The Handbook covers personal, social and health education topics, from Respectful Relationships and nutrition, to the Girl Declaration on the rights of the Girl-Child.

Menstrual Hygiene Day is an annual awareness day, on 28th May, that aims to break taboos and raise awareness about the importance of good menstrual hygiene management for women and adolescent girls worldwide.
In many parts of sub-saharan Africa, girls can miss up to 5 days of school a month or drop out entirely due to insufficient access to water, sanitation and Hygiene facilities while improving access to WASH facilities can actually increase girls' attendance at school.

Inadequate menstrual hygiene management is connected with several problems that females, particularly in developing countries with the WHO stating that unsafe water, sanitation and inadequate hygiene are the gravest risks to adolescent girls health, adversely affecting education, dignity and human rights of women and adolescent girls.

Toyin Saraki Congratulates Dr. Tedros Adhanom On Becoming The WHO Director-General, On Africa Day


To mark Africa Day, HE Toyin Saraki, the Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and the wife of Nigerian Senate President formally congratulated the new WHO Director-General Dr.Tedros Adhanom. Toyin Saraki noted: “On Africa Day, I would like to celebrate and congratulate our first African WHO Director General Dr.Tedros Adhanom. “

“My support for Dr.Tedros goes beyond borders, and beyond being a fellow African. I believe that Dr.Tedros is capable and qualified candidate, with a national health track record that is formidable. Unlike any other WHO Director-General candidate, Tedros is a former Minister of Health and brings a mountain of knowledge and successes from his previous position in Ethiopia. During his time as the Minister of Health, he helped create a strong and resilient primary healthcare system and also cut maternal mortality rate by two-thirds which many other African countries failed to do so.”

Mrs.Saraki continued: “Not only successful nationally, Tedros has also succeeded in international health, leading UNAIDS, PMNCH, and the Global Fund. At the Global Fund, he did what no one else has ever done before and raised the highest level of funding at the time of $12 billion in 2010.”

“As the World Health Organization evolves, I believe that the leadership should be reflective of that evolution. Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expertise in global health and specifically on the continent of Africa is unrivaled and at a time that many African and developing nations need strategic support in improving their national healthcare systems and indices through national and local strength and political will, I believe that Dr.Tedros will be essential in the development of global health in Africa and also in many developing countries and nations. “

“I hope at a time of international crossroads and change, you will follow my lead and support Dr.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as he begins his new position as Director-General of World Health Organization” ended Mrs.Saraki.

As the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) commences its reactive vaccination campaign to halt the spread of Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM), the Wellbeing Foundation Africa has issued the following health advisory:

The current Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) outbreak in Nigeria continues to pose a public health concern. According to the NCDC, cases of CSM was first reported in Zamfara state in 2016, and has since spread to 16 other states including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). There have been over 2,997 cases of infection and over 336 recorded deaths so far making this outbreak a major public health threat.

As advocates for improved maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health, The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA) is particularly concerned about the outbreak of CSM and its outcome on women and children in Nigeria. Traditionally, because women and children spend relatively more time indoors, compared to adult men, they are at an even greater risk. Pregnancy could pose a stressor to the bodies of women making them rather susceptible, especially if not adequately vaccinated. Children, also, are not spared from the vulnerabilities of a naïve immune system. It is therefore important for our communities to be very vigilant regarding CSM in women and children. Consequently, WBFA advocates that pregnant women and newborns should be provided with Personal Health Records where health workers and mothers can track and monitor their immunization and vaccinations.

WBFA urgently calls on national policymakers to provide appropriate antibiotic therapy and strengthen immunization and to include Meningovax vaccine, which protects against meningitis A and meningitis C, into the immunization schedules of Nigerian citizens, as a recognised preventive step, which is widely administered internationally. Similarly, the foundation calls on policymakers and health workers in Nigeria to disseminate and distribute accurate information to patients and citizens about the disease, to increase understanding and prevent the disease from further spreading.

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA) continues to advocate for increased strengthening of primary healthcare (PHC) systems, as the one true solution to Nigeria’s health crises. Nationally, as Nigeria strengthens its disease surveillance systems, so must it strengthen its detection and treatment referral systems so infected patients can be better detected and treated. There is an urgent need to harness public service announcement advocacy with a strong disease surveillance system, where a control and command reporting system is central. The Wellbeing Foundation Africa understands that it is only with a strong national reporting structure between hospitals, health workers and policymakers that a resilient health system can be built against national disease outbreaks.

Through the foundations’ other interventions like the MamaCare ante-natal and post-natal education program, we know that community mobilization and awareness at the grassroots is a critical success factor for improved health outcomes. Cerebrospinal meningitis can only be successfully prevented or curbed at the ward level, a microcosm of the local government area (LGA). Case detection, verification, and treatment are best started here, for maximum effectiveness. Client-held personal health records (PHRs), show the importance of community-level action. That is why, WBFA works with all relevant stakeholders in the public, private and third sectors, to promote greater investment and focus on primary health care centers and health records.

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa is encouraged by the Federal Ministry of Health and Nigeria's Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), in bracing up to the task of preventing further spread of the epidemic through emergency reactive vaccinations. Of crucial mention, as well, are the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Senate of the 8th National Assembly who have assured fiscal appropriations to support the control of meningitis, and other local and international partners who have donated technical expertise, financial resources, as well as hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses, in order to dampen this epidemic as soon as possible.

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa commiserates with the families of those who have lost loved ones. We pray for strength during this difficult time as we earnestly work together to stop the spread of CSM in Nigeria.

WBFA uses this medium to educate citizens, particularly pregnant women and mothers on the causes and symptoms of meningitis. Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) is a disease of the coverings of the brain and spinal cord (the meninges), characterised by inflammation which can begin suddenly (acute) or develop gradually (subacute). It is caused by a germ (bacteria), in this instance, Neisseria meningitides. The disease is spread mainly by contact with an infected person usually through sneezing, coughing and kissing and is particularly worse in overcrowded areas. Meningococcal meningitis remains associated with a high mortality rate and persistent neurological defects particularly among infants and young children. Without antibiotic therapy, meningococcal meningitis is uniformly fatal.

Symptoms of meningitis include: fever, nausea, vomiting, headache, poor feeding (particularly in newborns), irritability, aching muscles, altered mental status (confusion), skin rash, increased sensitivity to light and stiff neck. If you have or notice one or more of these symptoms on your baby please report to a healthcare facility immediately.

As a way of prevention, it is important to avoid overcrowded spaces, sleep in well-ventilated rooms, and avoid close and prolonged contacts with infected individuals. Also, remember to practice strict personal hygiene like handwashing, proper disposal of throat secretions, and sneezing or coughing into handkerchiefs or elbows. Do NOT practice self-medication and where possible get vaccinated with the relevant sero-type of the meningococcal vaccine.

Mrs Saraki may God Bless your kind gestures. You are truly one in a million, as hardly can one see other high profiled individuals have any sympathy towards the lower class.

I've observed Mrs Toyin closely for sometime and I must confess that she wowed me with her various charity-oriented interventions (in cash and kind) that she uses to improve the lives of mothers and children as well as advocating for a secure future for women, newborns and especially the Girl-Child.

Critics should rather appreciate those charitable enough to support the weak and helpless rather than try to discourage them or defame their characters.

Mrs Saraki the great advocate always using her voice to fight for the cause of the helpless.
God Bless the work of your hands, Amen.

A must watch video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IKUfo-ROwg&feature=youtu.be

Toyin Saraki, Chair Of Nigeria CSO's Primary Healthcare Revitalization Support Group Presents Memorandum To National Assembly 2017 Budget Appropriation Committee

On Tuesday 14 February 2017, HE Toyin Saraki Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa and Chair of the Primary Healthcare Revitalisation Support Group presented a memorandum on the 2017 Health Budget to the Nigerian National Assembly.

The Support Group comprises of the Chairman of the Committee on Healthcare Services, Hon. Chike Okafor and his Deputy, Hon Muhammad Usman, as well as the Chairman of the Committee on AIDS, TB & Malaria, Hon. David Emmanuel Ombugadu, the Development Partners, the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), the representative of the Minister of Health, and leaders and representatives from 72 CSOs and NGOs working to improve health systems and outcomes across Nigeria.

The Support Group memorandum advocated the following recommendations on the 2017 Health Budget proposal that the National Assembly and Federal Government:

1. Implement the National Health Act by setting aside not less than 1 percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund to the Basic Health Care Provisions Fund. The Guidelines for the administration, disbursement and monitoring of the Fund is virtually completed. The 2017 budget should prioritize this, setting aside 49bn as statutory transfer.

2. Increase allocation to the health sector to reach at least 7.5 percent of the overall budget in 2017 to progress towards the Abuja Declaration benchmark. The bulk of the new resources should go to capital expenditure to enhance access to equipment and health supporting infrastructure. At the current level, total allocation to health should not be less than N547bn.

3. Back the provision for the revitalization of 1 Primary Health Centre per ward (10,000) with the right budget. N3bn for 1000 PHCs in 2017 is a small start for an ambition that ends in 2019. Although Primary Health Care is not the primary responsibility of the Federal Government, it should provide resources in form of grants to States and LGAs given that over 70% of disease burden in the country lies at the primary level. Specifically, given that rehabilitation of just 1,000 out of about 10,000 PHCs in the Country is largely insignificant, the Federal Government should provide for additional N6b in the 2017 budget to enable her rehabilitate at least 3,000 out of about 10,000 PHCs in the Country ear marked for rehabilitation. Funding options for this could include : (i) Additional funding from the PROPOSED INCREASE IN OIL BENCHMARK PRICE in the 2017 budget.(ii) Deduction from Source of money from the next round of Paris Club Refund to States to enable them budget for the rehabilitation of some PHCs in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

4. Ensure that budgetary allocation to allow a biennial funding mechanism for routine vaccines is made in 2017. While funding for 2017 is largely taken care of (but for a funding gap of N1.5bn), the provision for 2018 was ignored, which could create procurement challenges to meet immunization needs for Nigerian children in 2018. FGN should put in place the policy and legal framework for sustainable immunization financing and develop a transition plan to address the accelerated loss of GAVI support in the next 5 years.

5. Nigeria currently has 11 million children suffering from stunting. It is essential that the budget makes provision for services such as health facility-based nutrition counseling and iron or multiple micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy delivered through ANC visits, zinc/oral rehydration solution for treatment of diarrhea, deworming of young children twice annually and micronutrient powders for home fortification through MNCH weeks. This will mean a funding gap of close to N1B in the 2017 FMOH budget. Furthermore, the scale up of integrated Community Case Management of Malaria, Diarrhoea and Pneumonia in all states of the Federation, as recommended by the NCH in Sokoto (2016) coupled with implementation of Community based IMNCH program will provide a combination of preventive and curative interface for these three killer diseases, in addition for MALNUTRITION. In terms of costing, this will require an extra matching grant of N1.5b from the Federal Government to cover hiring of extra Community Health Extension Workers and provide basic Nutritional Preventive and therapeutic Services in 3,000 designated PHCs in Nigeria in 2017.

6. Funding for HIV response should be radically increased to consider the current treatment gap for PLHIV, which stands at 2.35mn persons in 2015. Providing ARTs for at least 20% of this number in 2017 will require at least 23bn for one year while testing and maintaining the current 2 states of Abia and Taraba should be doubled to meet the current needs to stem the HIV/AIDS challenge.

7. We are of the view that the proposal of NHIS to partner with states to scale up the coverage of pro poor state supported health insurance schemes (SSHIS) is a step in the right direction.

8. Full and timely release of the capital budget of the Health Sector starting from the 2017 financial year. Capital Budget Performance in recent years is one of the worst among Federal ministries, with the exception of 2016, due to the rapid response occasioned by the reemergence of polio in the North East.

9. The specific contributions of Development Partners should be identified and captured in the budget for purposes of transparency and accountability. An active process of oversight of the utilization of these funds should be institutionalized and funded for improved efficiency.

10. Acknowledging the unique partnership & landmark commitment of N11.72bn for strategic joint investments in tertiary health institutions with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as laudable, we warn that the necessary steps be taken to guarantee affordability for poor & vulnerable Nigerians who are unable to afford such services delivered under such models;

Mrs Saraki, who was joined by co-Chair of the PHCRSG, Dr Benjamin Anyene, and Wellbeing Foundation Africa Country Director, Dr Luther Fasehun, among other members of the PHCRSG, commended the National Assembly Appropriations Committee Chairmen, Senator Danjuma Goje (Senate) and Honorable Mustapha Bala Dawaki (House Of Representatives), and all Distinguished and Honorable Budget Appropriation Committee Members for ushering in a new era of civil society engagement, transparency and accountability, toward ensuring that National Assembly budgetary oversight in revitalising Nigeria's ailing Primary Healthcare System, to avert the disaster of collapse.

The Wife of the Senate President has urged all Members of the National Assembly to adopt at least 3 Primary Healthcare (PHC) in various wards in their constituencies.

Mrs Saraki made this plea at the launching of the National Assembly Primary Healthcare (PHC) Revitalization Support Group held in Abuja.

The Support Group which is chaired by Mrs Toyin Saraki came up as an outcome of the Public Hearing, led by the House of Representatives Committee on Health Services for the revitalisation of primary healthcare in Nigeria which was held last year.

AljazirahNigeria learnt that the formation of the group is aimed towards averting a disaster in the health sector particularly the primary health care system.

Mrs Saraki reiterated that Primary healthcare is very important in the delivering of health outcomes, strengthening health and health related systems for the people.

She explained that effective primary healthcare system can cater for 70-80% of the health services needs of the masses.

According to her, the adoption of PHC will help in solving 60% problems in the secondary and tertiary health level.

She added that it is also a health system that is very close to the people ‘s living and working conditions and locations as possible.

Her excellency commended all foreign donors for joining the nation in chasing of improvement of the live hood starting from the communities’ level and building up.

She assured members of the Support Group in using her strong voice to advocate for the improvement of funding, health infrastructure, equipment and human resources for health.

Wellbeing Foundation Africa, National Assembly Primary Health Care Revitalisation Support Group Host Global Development Partners, for Improved PHC in Nigeria

Yesterday, in Abuja, WBFA Founder Toyin Saraki, Chair of Nigeria Health CSO’s National Assembly Primary Healthcare Revitalisation Support Group PHCRSG hosted a meeting with the Development Partners Group which included the Country Director of WHO, USAID, UNICEF, UNFPA, JICA, DfID, PEPFAR, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention CDC, the European Union, and the ONE Campaign, among several others. The meeting was convened by Mrs. Saraki and attended by the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria's Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA to measure the progress of the Group and chart the ways forward to strengthen the primary healthcare systems in Nigeria.

The inception of the PHC Revitalisation Support Group began after last year’s Public Hearing on "The Revitalisation of Primary Healthcare in Nigeria to Avert a Disaster in the Health Sector", led by the Honourable Chike Okafor and Honorable Mohammed Usman, Chair and Deputy Chair, House of Representatives’ Committee on Healthcare Services, and Honourable David Emanuel Ombugudu, Chair House of Representatives Committee on HIV-AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Mrs. Saraki noted at the meeting: “we are especially pleased to have the Development Partners Group (DPG) join us in this chase for the improvement of the livelihoods of Nigerians, starting from the communities-level, and building up. As multilaterals, bilateral and expert organisations in the field of health and development, the importance of your contributions to our cause cannot be overemphasised, as we seek an inclusion of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund in the statutory transfers, as generated from at least 1% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), which, from current expectations of revenues for 2017, stand at 49 billion naira. This is in line with the National Health Act, and must also strive for improvements in the budget proposals for immunization, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, family planning, as well as provisions for the personnel, overheads and operational budget of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).”

The Honourable Chike Okafor also spoke and stated that: “We are ready to take this advocacy to the President of the Senate. We are fighting for everyone, not ourselves or our pockets. We will keep fighting as long as we have the capacity and position to do so until we get that 1% CRF inclusion.”

Mrs Saraki and her PHCRSG Co-Chair Dr Ben Anyene closed the meeting reaffirming Mrs Saraki's commitment as Chair: “As we move on with the PHC Revitalisation Support Group, including advocacy visits to the leadership of the National Assembly, I want to reaffirm my commitment to be an active part of the process, and to pave the way in all of my capacity, as a strong advocacy voice for the improvement of funding, health infrastructure/equipment and human resources for health, at the primary healthcare level. We know that an efficient and effective PHC system can cater to the healthcare needs and services of our populace. The battle for citizens’ wellbeing and accountability will be won at the primary health warfront.”

The PHC meeting coincided with the first day of the African Healthcare Summit which was attended by the global team of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa in London, United Kingdom. The summit will continue for two more days.

“I welcome all our global and African partners to London today, to discuss how we build stronger, effective, efficient and therefore more resilient healthcare systems, especially as we go through the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We can use technology to inspire and revolutionise the future and development of our nations,” Mrs Saraki said.

Today, in recognition of the UN’s International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, we reflect upon female genital mutilation (FGM), defining this cultural practice, addressing its harmful implications, and seeking resolution on this dangerous, damaging and sadly all too prevalent issue.

FGM, also known as female genital cutting and female circumcision, is the ritual removal of some or all of the external female Instruments. The practice is common across much of Africa and the Middle East, and is practiced in some parts of Asia, and among diaspora populations in Western countries. Somalia is thought to have the highest prevalence of FGM in the world, with 98% of girls affected. In my homeland of Nigeria, it is believed around 20 million girls and women have undergone the procedure. Globally this figure rises to 200 million.

FGM as a cultural practice, is often perceived as a rite of passage into the maturity of womanhood, but evidently conceived to contain and control a young woman, or even a girl’s sexuality, to ensure virginity before marriage and fidelity after, by the brutal method of limiting a woman’s sexual pleasure. This is a blatant violation of a female’s rights, and the embodiment of female subordination, as FGM quite unusually, is visited upon the female gender, by the female gender, towards a misguided but sadly reinforced sense of community affirmation.

In addition to the enduring psychological effects of the practice, FGM presents severe medical risks to its victims. In the short-term, excruciating pain, excessive bleeding and shock are commonplace. Anesthetics are rarely used, and many women recall the procedure as an enduring trauma. Infection is also common, as FGM often takes place in un-sterile environments. This prolongs the suffering of the procedure, and can be fatal if left untreated.

The long-term complications are extensive; chronic infection, menstrual problems, painful urination, obstetric complications and peri-natal risks all arise as a direct result of FGM. It must be stopped.

As the founder and CEO of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, a maternal health charity based in Nigeria, I have seen with my own eyes the harm caused by this archaic practice. Women who have undergone the procedure commonly experience complications during birth, and are at a greater risk of caesarian section, hemorrhage, obstetric lacerations and prolonged labour. In low and middle income economic regions with poor coverage of quality maternal healthcare such as Nigeria, the heightened risk that FGM imposes on expectant mothers presents an added danger to childbirth.

Last year I participated in a United National Population Fund conference in Nigeria that called for collective action to eliminate Female Genital Mutilation by 2030. FGM is a dangerous, harmful and unnecessary cultural practice, a physical assault that causes grievous bodily harm - it is therefore the responsibility of the international community, domestic governments and civil society to work together in fighting to protect girls of the future from such inhumane practice. The UN estimates that if current trends continue, 15 million more girls between 15 and 19 will be cut within the next 14 years. It is our job as international citizens to prevent this from happening.

FGM was criminalised in Nigeria in 2015, signifying a historic step towards outlawing the practice globally. However, FGM remains legal in Mali, Sudan, Sierra Leone and Liberia, among others, and continues to be practiced in other countries despite it being outlawed.

At the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, we train midwives on the safe delivery of babies and best perinatal care practices. It is my belief that it is through midwives and maternal care that FGM can be overturned in Nigeria. Midwives are best placed to detect FGM, and to urge mothers not to subject their daughters to this harmful practice. The right legislation is in place. Now what is needed is a mentality of change and a greater understanding of the risks to eliminate the practice completely.

Huge progress has been made internationally to overcome FGM, with a succession of governments criminalising the practice in recent years. This is an achievement that should be lauded. However, there is still much to do. Sexist attitudes and a misunderstanding of the facts surrounding the health risks associated with the practice must be challenged. Through a combined effort from governments, international organisations and individual people, the girls of the future can and will be protected.

Follow Toyin Ojora-Saraki on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ToyinSaraki

Culled from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/toyin-ojo ... 32166.html

The founder, Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has visited the 9th Brigade Medical Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, one of many primary healthcare facilities around the nation where the Foundation’s MamaCare Midwives, deliver weekly classes to pregnant and postnatal mothers, to mark the Armed Forces Remembrance Day 2017.

Mrs Saraki, who was welcomed to the 9th Brigade Centre by its Supervising Matron, Captain Onyeke, Wellbeing Foundation Africa’s Mamacare Advocate Midwife, Eunice Akhigbe, and Garrison Commander Abubakar, paid tribute to Armed Forces families.

She said at the occasion, “We at the Wellbeing Foundation Africa are happy to be able to help the wives and families of uniformed men through their monthly journey from pregnancy to birth and beyond, and we continue to give them a continuum of care and counsel. Through our MamaCare Antenatal Education Classes, which were initiated at this centre since January 2016, we seek to empower these women by providing the highest standard of education to them about their bodies, and their babies. These classes, which are delivered in primary, secondary and tertiary medical facilities across the nation, have been able to deploy skilled midwives at no cost to military families in Lagos and Kwara States, to provide education, support, and confidence about health, from birth to age. At present, our MamaCare Midwives reach over 350 military spouses and 1500 citizens each and every week, but we are determined to scale this program across Nigeria for the benefit of civilians and service-members alike. “Much like the Armed Forces protect and nurture us, it is my hope that the work of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa reassures them, in turn, that their families are safe and secure. To dedicate ourselves to the health needs of these women and children is a small token of our gratitude, but one that we are grateful to give.” The Matron, Captain Onyeke, thanked the WBFA Mamacare Midwifery-led Antenatal and Postnatal Education Program for providing such unique education experience for pregnant and postnatal mothers, a service she attested was the first of its kind in the history of the centre.

Nigeria Primary Healthcare Revitalisation – Toyin Saraki Urges Activation Of Basic Healthcare Provision Fund To Fast-track The Improvement Of Reproductive Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health Indices In Nigeria

Thursday 19 January 2017, Abuja, Nigeria

Last Thursday, Mrs. Toyin Saraki chaired the first meeting of the Contact Group of the Primary Healthcare (PHC) Revitalisation Program. The meeting was co-chaired by Dr Benjamin Anyene of Herfon, was also attended by Representatives of the House Committee for Health Services, both Committee Chair and Deputy-Chair and was also attended by representatives from the World Health Organization, the ONE Campaign and UNICEF.

At the meeting, Mrs. Saraki “urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to fully implement the National Health Care Act, to guarantee that the right care is available and accessible at the right place, and right time, to save the lives of millions of Nigerians who are currently without access to healthcare and medicines.”

"The target of revitalizing our primary health care infrastructure and services to provide right care at right time affordably towards universal health coverage cannot be achieved without sustained and sustainable funding; we urge all stakeholders to consider unexplored linkages with the Federal Government's National Health Insurance Scheme as supported by the Saving One Million Lives Initiative as a source of community driven community delivered anchorage to federal effect, character and impact funding, sustainably" Mrs Saraki ended.
The Federal Government of Nigeria pledged that they would revitalise 109 Primary Healthcare Centres, one in each senatorial district. The PHC Revitalisation Program was launched by His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday 11 January at the commissioning of Kuchigoro Primary Health Centre, Abuja.

Buttressing this advocacy to global development partners, Mrs Toyin Saraki, the Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa who attended a meeting with Melinda Gates hosted by the Wife of the President of Nigeria HE Aisha Buhari on 19th January 2016 observed, noting,

“It is why we at the Wellbeing Foundation Africa have worked tirelessly to deliver frontline programming actions to combat the dire indices of maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health mortality and morbidity, from birth to age - actions which have seen our nation's preventable mortality indices improve from 1 in 6 pregnant women and newborns dying in 2004, to 1 in 12 women and newborns today.”

“We can fast track our improvements, and we must fast track our improvements, for as we face, in the north-east of our beloved nation, the ravages of insurgency, conflict and displacement, all of which wind development backwards, as we strive to restore services that rehabilitate lives and dignity, we know that it is only by strengthening public health, public education and socio-economic services nationally, that we can build and consolidate the resilience needed to cope in challenged regions, for vulnerable citizens. Nowhere is this more important than in primary education, primary healthcare, and adolescent wellbeing services.

“Nigeria's Joint Sectors Primary Health Care Revitalisation Committee, which I chair, calls upon governmental policymakers and legislators to fully implement the National Health Care Act, in which the adherence to 1% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund can create an unprecedented impact across the Nigerian stage, in upgrading the revitalisation of Nigeria's 22000 existing Primary Health Centres to the higher standards of Maternity Referral Centres, to save the lives of 3,131,510 mothers, newborns and children under the age of five years, at the primary health warfront where the lives and wellbeing of our citizens are gained and lost, by 2022.”

For those of you that believe the defamatory story that Saraki distributed a cup of rice, Kindly read the response to this rumour credibly from the Senate President’s Office:

The attention of the Media Office of the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has been drawn to an online post that claims thousands of Kwarans lined up at the private residence of the Senate President to receive a small quantity of rice and unspecified amounts of money.

For the avoidance of doubt, the gathering in question did not happen at the residence of Dr. Saraki, and was not sponsored, organized, attended or endorsed in any way by the Senate President.

This reported gathering was sponsored, organized and attended by Honorable Moshood Mustapha, a Special Adviser on Special Duties to the President of the Senate — in his own capacity as a private citizen of Kwara State. Additionally, this gathering was held at Honorable Mustapha’s private residence, which is located several kilometers away from the residence of Dr. Saraki.

Finally, it is important to note that Honorable Mustapha, as the owner of one of Kwara State’s foremost hotels is a man of means. In this regard, the aforementioned gathering was organized entirely of his own accord.


Signed:

Bamikole Omishore
Special Assistant on New Media to the President of the Senate

On Tuesday 13 December, Mrs.Toyin Ojora Saraki was awarded the title of Vaccine Champion by Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA) in Nigeria, Abuja. WAVA is a group of influential and elite political, business and youth leaders, senior civil servants, religious and traditional leaders and top media personalities; who promote immunization practices and sustainable governmental and donor financing.

Mrs. Toyin Saraki has been a long-time advocate for increasing the access to and funding for newborn and childhood vaccinations. Her organization, the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA) devised the client-held Personal Health Record (PHR) and Child Health Record Book (CHRB) aimed at monitoring the health of women and children throughout their respective pregnancy, delivery neonatal and under-5 year continuum of care. The PHR, primarily an immunization records, affirms vaccines as a crucial determinant of health for both mother and infant.

Mrs. Saraki noted: “While I am proud of the strong local, regional and global advocacy for reproductive maternal newborn child and adolescent health, rights and education led over the last two decades by the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, I am happier still by the impact of our frontline actions, which bring the benefits of our rights based models, affecting citizen engagement, creating demand for tangible visible behavioral change in the lives and outcomes of women and their entire families and communities, from birth to age.

The striking impact, of our midwifery centred MamaCare skills and drills antenatal and postnatal classes for pregnant mothers, their newborns, has shown us that informing, educating and meeting the needs of women, in the right place and at the right time, saves lives, to survive, and to thrive, from birth to age"

"The Wellbeing Foundation Africa was founded on the recognition that accurate information, delivered to and from expectant mothers, and the healthcare workers, most especially the skilled midwives that deliver a crucial continuum of care and counsel, respectfully, can bridge the data divide, and ensure universal coverage of Civil Registrations and Vital Statistics; our Tripod Solution delivers data to medical facilities, health workers and patients simultaneously and seamlessly, effectively and accountability. "

As WAVA Vaccine Champion, Mrs. Toyin Saraki committed to amplifying the work of WAVA through her national and international channels to increase impact.

Signed: Communications
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa
Email: communications@wellbeingfoundationnig.org
Web: http://www.wbfafrica.org

WAVA is a national coalition of over 30 women-focused organizations from diverse backgrounds and sectors, operating in all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. WAVA members leverage their reach and positions to shape public opinion about the health and economic value of vaccines, while advocating for the rights of every Nigerian woman and child to have access to vaccines, no matter their location or economic situation.

WAVA receives technical support from Direct Consulting and Logistics, and program support from international organizations, including, the John Hopkins International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC), the Gates Foundation and Gavi,the Vaccine Alliance.

Wife of the President of the Senate, Dr. Mrs. Toyin Saraki has advocated for continuous rehabilitation of prison inmates.

This is also as she urged the Senate to, as a matter of urgency, pass the Prisons Reform Bill 2016 into law.

Speaking at the Suleja Medium Prisons in Niger State on Tuesday, Mrs. Saraki said only when the Prisons facilities were in right shape and the welfare of the workers taken into considerations that the officers would put in their best.

The wife of the Senate President, who led other Senators’ wives to Suleja, under the aegis of Senators Wives’ Forum, also said the rehabilitation of inmates would make them relevant to themselves and the society.

Mrs. Saraki urged Nigerians to avoid stigmatising the prisoners when they were eventually released, even as she admonished the inmates to get a change of life at their return.

While welcoming the Senators wives to Suleja, the Comptroller of Prisons in charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) command, Daniel Odharo disclosed that modern facilities were lacking in Suleja Prisons, which he described as an ancient Guard Yard used by the Native Authority.

He, therefore, called on the government to help upgrade the facilities. He said new land has been acquired for construction of a bigger prison yard.

On her part, the Special Assistant to the Senate President on Gender Matters, Fatima Kakuri, assured the Officers and inmates that the Senate would expedite actions in passing the Prisons Reform Bill, adding that the Bill had already scaled through second reading.

The Senators wives who were passionately touched by the situation of some the female inmates, also offered cash to those with option of fines.

Miss Ozioma Okezie, 22, who hails from Abia State got all her fines paid immediately in cash, with the caution to have a change of life after freedom.

Highlights of the visit was a tour of the facilities and distribution of essential items to the inmates.

Speaking to DAILY POST, Mrs. Onyekachi Okafor, who is carrying a baby of 9 months, said she was taken to prison 8 months ago for beating her own child, while she was also nursing a baby of 1 month.

Another female inmate, Elizabeth Ogar who was accused of stealing N200, 000 from her master’s shop, 9 months ago and was sentenced with 3 weeks old baby, also appreciated the Senators’ wives for coming to her aide.

"There is good news on #gender #equality – if you look to the developing world" - Toyin Saraki

Last weekend the United Nations completed its annual 16 days of activism against gender-based violence – a global campaign aimed at raising awareness of what is the rawest, most visceral example of gender inequality. That such an effort still needs to be made in 2016 highlights the size of the problem – one in three women globally still suffer from gender-based violence in some form in their lifetime. The wider fight is equally stark. Some 62 million girls annually are denied access to education, four out of every five children trafficked are girls, and women continue to suffer in terms of pay and representation in the workplace.

Politics and public life seem little better. The poisonous rhetoric brought to the surface during the US presidential election is just the latest example of how the internet has empowered keyboard misogynists to vent their anger against women. Take a study by this newspaper earlier in the year: of the 10 most abused writers on the Guardian platform eight were women.

But there are some small chinks of hope. A reminder that while the status quo is unacceptable, the longer-term trend is pointed towards gender equality. And this trend is global, not simply confined to the western world. Just look at healthcare. Maternal mortality remains a mass killer in the developing world. It may not be as newsworthy as gender-based violence or as stark and immediate as disease or starvation, but it is the second biggest killer of women of reproductive age in the developing world. This is changing.

Due to a concerted focus not least through the recently concluded UN Millennium Development Goals, the amount of women dying in childbirth has fallen by 45% since 1990. A staggering achievement. Gender-based development campaigns aimed at educating women have also pushed aside outmoded approaches to pregnancy and family planning, empowering women to take control of their own welfare in one of the most vulnerable periods of their lives.

Through the work of my own foundation in Nigeria, we have found that relatively small interventions (such as our MamaCare Antenatal and Postnatal Education Curriculum) can have a huge impact on the wellbeing of a mother, and in turn have a ripple effect on the communities which these mothers lead, thus improving and transforming the health of families slowly but effectively.

Improvement is also being made in education. While secondary education remains a critical problem in many developing countries, the challenge of primary school enrolment has virtually been solved. Enrolment rates globally are now on a near parity between boys and girls.

And what of the workplace? The top-line figures may be bleak, but there is evidence to suggest slow change is happening. A study of 70 countries, including many in the developing world, showed that since 1995 the gender wage gap has narrowed from 28% to 20%. The gap is still far too big. But it is falling.

But what of politics and public life? There has been one story and one story only this year. The failure of the US to elect a female president. Regardless of the merits or pitfalls of the victor, the symbolism of a woman leading the most powerful nation on Earth would have been a touchstone moment for gender equality from New York to Nairobi.

But in this respect the developing world can again provide some hope. Look at the great surge of democracy and representative government in Africa, Asia and Latin America that began in early 1990s. In virtually every new constitution that followed, guarantees of gender equality were enshrined in law. And while the US is still yet to elect its first female head of state, countries as diverse as Brazil, Chile, Malawi, Liberia, Bangladesh and South Korea have all done so. General political participation is also on the rise. Rwanda’s parliament has the largest number of female representatives on Earth.

The reality is that the life chances (and quality of life) for millions of women are still bleak. But while there has been backsliding, we must also remember the progress that has been made. If we allow the narrative of gender equality to become too negative we risk allowing that negativity to be self-fulfilling.

In my own country of Nigeria I don’t want attention to be focused on the failure of a woman to reach the White House. I want attention to be on the gradual, incremental victories. Like the fact that our country has passed the second reading of the gender and equal opportunities bill in the senate, a level of reform now becoming the norm in Africa. While western countries are reappraising their progress on gender equality, many countries in the developing world are quietly writing their own stories on the issue, which remain largely untold beyond their borders.

We have so far to go on the journey to true gender equality that it can sometimes seem daunting. But the long-term trend is in our favour, and if 2016 teaches us anything, it should be to stay the course. The fight for gender equality within a generation is winnable. Battles may be lost, but the war will be won, eventually.

Skelewu:
Op, I have reason to believe you are a stark illiterate. Do you even know the meaning of the 91 percent and the 99 percent figures you are bandying around?

You're effectively saying that all kids in Nigeria are HIV positive. That's an idiotic conclusion not based on facts.

@Skelewu, am not sure you read the article carefully because it never in any way infer that the 91% are only Nigerian kids, endeavor to read the part I pasted below and you will get the message:

HIV/AIDS remains a global health problem with over 30 million lives lost, a global prevalence of 37 million, and annual incidence of 2.1 million. Although on a steady decline, the burden is highest in sub-Saharan Africa where 70% of people living with HIV lives; 66% of new infections occur; and 91% of children living with HIV are.

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the 2016 World AIDS Day, WAD, wife of the Senate President, Mrs Toyin Saraki has decried the high incidence of about 99 % of children are living with HIV , showing that there is still a prevalence of the disease on children due to mother-to- child transmission.

Saraki who is the Founder of Wellbeing Foundation Africa on the occasion of the WAD while commemorating with people living with the virus said, ‘’we stand in solidarity with all those infected and affected by the HIV virus and their families. ‘’We should not stop our efforts to end HIV/AIDS through prevention and education until it is over. We also need to continue to spread awareness against HIV stigma. It must stop. Those infected and affected by HIV are humans and deserve love and compassion we all do.’’

‘’ 3.5 million people in Nigeria are HIV Positive and according to the World Health Organization, WHO, globally only 57 know their status which is even less in Nigeria, we need to work together to ensure everyone has access to live healthier and longer lives in our country, through better access and assistance to antiretroviral drugs, education on prevention of spread, especially from mother- to- child, and counselling and psycho- social support for those affected by HIV and their families.’’

Meanwhile the Wellbeing Foundation in a press release sent Nigerian Pilot, had noted that the HIV/AIDS has generated global attention in recent times with focus on fighting the disease through education, information, behaviour modification, advocacy, resource mobilization, and preventive measures.

It further said that, HIV/AIDS remains a global health problem with over 30 million lives lost, a global prevalence of 37 million, and annual incidence of 2.1 million. Although on a steady decline, the burden is highest in sub-Saharan Africa where 70% of people living with HIV lives; 66% of new infections occur; and 91% of children living with HIV are.

According to HIV statistics by the WFA, there are 3.5 million Nigerians living with HIV, with 3. 1 % adult HIV prevalence rate. In 2015 there were 250, 000 new infections, 180,000 AIDS related deaths out of which 24% of adults were on antiretroviral drugs.

Globally , 36.7 million people are living with the virus. 1.8 million are children living with HIV, most of them were infected through their HIV Positive mothers during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding.

An estimated 2.1 million people globally were infected in 2015 and currently only about 54% of persons know their status.

The World AIDS day is celebrated yearly on the 1st of December since 1988, a day set aside to show support for people living with HIV, remember people who have died as a result of AIDS, while also raising awareness on the need to fight HIV/AIDS; and eliminating Mother-to-Child Transmission (eMTCT) of HIV.

Wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, and wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mrs. Gimbiya Dogara, who led a delegation of wives of members of the National Assembly to present relief items to displaced persons at Damare Camp in Adamawa State on Thursday, pleaded with protesting inmates who were angry with officials in the camp.

The protesters had accused their minders of depriving them of relief items given by donors.

They alleged that they were never given the items donated to them, thus they decided to register their displeasure through the action.

Relief items donated by Saraki and her colleagues include mattresses, foodstuffs, pillows, clothing, school packs for children returning to school and drugs. Other items that would be needed by the displaced persons as they returned to their homes were also among the gifts.

Saraki said, “I have assured the displaced persons that we would stand with them. The essence of human dignity is trust. We should all be able to say a word and mean that word and keep to our promises. The administration of the camp has given me assurance that these items which were presented in their thousands would be distributed to each one of them.”

Coordinator, National Emergency Management Agency in Adamawa, Saad Bello, while receiving the delegation, said that the population of IDP’s taking refuge in camps across the state had reduced from over 60,000 to around 4,000 today.

Toyin Saraki, wife of Senate President Bukola Saraki has been listed as one of the 7 unsung heroes of 2016 heading into the coming year.

The list which was compiled by New York based magazine Thought Catalog, a site with 25 million monthly unique visitors and one of the top 100 most visited websites in the U.S., contains the names of people who have put community before self and furthered the cause of humanity in the face of current global challenges.

Toyin Saraki was recognised for her contribution to improved healthcare across Africa through her Wellbeing Foundation Africa.

Speaking about Toyin, the Magazine said, “In the United States, we think of issues from our own experiences and confusing laws. But we hardly have it bad compared to civil rights and women’s health access of third world nations where people are even more often treated like commodities. From these locales come the real unsung heroes. People like Toyin Saraki are few and far between trying to alter the balance of power. Toyin is a healthcare advocate in Nigeria, where she founded Wellbeing Foundation Africa. The group focuses on health, gender equality and clean water and sanitation services.

“Throughout history, women’s health was never a political issue and really only started midway through the 1800s. In 1899, abortion was made illegal in the United States. The backlash from the opposition was fierce and immediate. By the 1960s, there were some inroads to women regaining political control of their own bodies. Still, a large part of society has come to believe that they can tell others how to take care of themselves.

“The complicating factor making this a legal and political issue is that different people have different levels of ability to understand, making things like informed consent rely on what patients are told. At the same time, people should appreciate that there are strong, educated and confident women that know exactly what they need and want for their own health but are forbidden from doing it because of overly oppressive health care. Unrelenting educators like Toyin Saraki give this critical power back to the poor people who have been robbed of it.”

Other persons profiled on the list include Maurice Hilleman (1919-2005), Raoul Wallenberg (1912-1950s), Ralph Lazo (1924-1992), George Jackson (1941-1971), Elaine Thompson (1992-Present) and Joe Bell (1964-2013).

4th Nigeria Family Planning Conference - November 7-9, 2016 - Abuja

Progress in Nigeria and other nations has been uneven and Stakeholders warn against poor quality care with rising rates of over-medicalisation, too few trained staff or basic resources in many regions around the world


ABUJA – The 4th Nigeria Family Planning Conference in Abuja this week hosted the Africa regional launch of The Lancet Maternal Health Series. National and international health leaders were on hand for this important gathering, including the Honourable Minister of Health Isaac Folorunso Adewole and Wellbeing Foundation Africa's Founder, Her Excellency Toyin Saraki, Global Goodwill Ambassador to the International Confederation Of Midwives, UNFPA Nigeria Family Planning Champion and wife of Nigeria's Senate President, and Professor Oona Campbell, author of the 2016 Lancet Maternal Health Series.

Mrs. Saraki, a co-author of the previous 2015 Lancet Maternal Health Series: Stillbirths: Economic And Psychosocial Consequences - and having attended the initial launch of the 2016 Series report at the global stage to coincide with the 71st UN General Assembly in September observed that The Lancet Maternal Health Series covers the epidemiology of maternal health, the current landscape of maternal health care and services in both high- and low-income countries, and lays out future challenges and strategies to improve maternal wellbeing.

Speaking at Nigeria's 4th Family Planning Conference in her capacity as UNFPA Nigeria Family Planning Champion, Mrs Saraki addressed stakeholders alongside fellow panelists Professor Oona Campbell who launched the Series, Professor Adinma, Dr Kole Shettima, Dr Tunde Segun and Dr Allisyn Moran with the discussion entitled: "What is family planning doing for maternal health in Nigeria" - Mrs. Saraki noted:

" I welcome the Nigeria launch of the 2016 series which provides all stakeholders and policy-makers the evidence with which to guide concrete actions to improve maternal newborn child and adolescent health services"

"The launch of this report, coinciding with the revised WHO guidelines which recommend that pregnant women in low and middle income regions receive 8 antenatal visits, and increased recommendation from the 4 antenatal visits previously indicated within the WHO's focused Antenatal Care policy, vindicates the Wellbeing Foundation Africa's MamaCare Antenatal And Postnatal Skills And Drills Curriculum model for midwives and mothers respectively demonstrating that the provision of a midwifery-led continuum of care and counsel, along with universal access to high quality affordable health services through community health insurance, improved training in emergency obstetric and newborn care, underpinned by integrating its robust patient-custody health records with digital facility health records and civil registrations data skill-sets are, together. crucial to improving survival and wellbeing"

"As Nigeria's first civil society maternal health visitor program, the MamaCare Classes incorporate a postnatal session where breastfeeding techniques are delivered to mothers along with informed family planning advice - At the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, believing that access to family planning information and contraception is a fundamental human right, empowering women to decide when and where to have a child, and how many children they wish to bear, according to their circumstances, we recommend that mothers space their childbirth by 1000 days, to better sustain the health and socio-economic wellbeing of mother, child and family"

"Considering the 40% improved survival rates delivered over the last 4 years through Nigeria's Midwives Service Scheme, despite government challenges in sustaining state and local government traction on these gains, having advocated for the National Task-shifting Policy, as a follow-up to what was irrefutably demonstrated in Nigeria that when community health workers were allowed to administer injectable contraceptives, the uptake of family planning in hard-to-reach areas went up dramatically."

“It will be hugely beneficial to improve clarity on Nigeria's currently confusing ‘dual-qualification nurse-midwife’ overlap, to provide clear distinctions between the midwifery qualification, and the general nursing qualification. With regards to the recently launched WHO Midwives Voices Midwives Realities Report, which documents the voices and realities of 2470 midwifery personnel in 93 countries and describes, from their perspective, the barriers they experience to providing quality, respectful care for women, newborns and their families."

“I now urge our Federal Government and policy makers to consider integrating the International Confederation of Midwives' Midwifery Services Framework into Nigeria's public health policy as the best practice model to strengthen midwifery services to deliver the full complement of maternal and newborn care, including family planning."

Mrs Saraki further called upon the government and stakeholders to:

● To honor their FP2020 commitments to improving family planning funding and services

● To partner with donors and other non-governmental organizations to increase financing for family planning at all levels

● To strengthen primary health care facilities to provide family planning counseling and services for increased access and improved coverage

● To partner with non- governmental agencies and development partners to build the capacities of healthcare providers across all cadres to encourage task shifting/sharing to overcome human resource constraints

● To strengthen country's forecasting capacities and supply of family planning capacities

● To adopt innovative approaches such as community-based family planning services, involvement of men, traditional and religious leaders as family planning champions to break religious-cultural barriers

● To continuously create awareness on family planning for women and families to make informed decisions on birth spacing.

● To scale up deployment of patient custody health records and facility and health-worker driven digital records databases to provide real-time transparent and accountable community audit mechanisms in measuring public health services delivery


The conference, supported by a wide range of stakeholders including DFID UK, USAID, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Plan International, Evidence For Action, The White Ribbon Alliance and NURHI, was attended by Nigeria's Honourable Minister Of Health, His Royal Highness The Emir Of Shonga, Former Senator Daisy Danjuma as represented by Dr Edugie Abebe, and a wide range of leaders of women's groups cooperatives and associations including the National Council of Women’s Societies NCWS, and the YWCA.

“I am honoured that The Lancet Maternal Health Series is being launched in Nigeria especially due to its particular relevance to our country,” said Honourable Minister of Health Isaac Folorunso Adewole. “Poverty, inequality, and geographical barriers all clearly play out in maternal health where both our challenges and opportunities abound. We should, therefore guarantee that every woman, everywhere has access to good quality care.” [1]

Maternal mortality in Nigeria decreased by 40 percent from 1,350 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 814 deaths in 2015 (paper 3, fig 2). There were an estimated 58,000 maternal deaths in Nigeria in 2015, representing 19 percent of the total number of maternal deaths worldwide (paper 1).

Approximately one quarter of women worldwide deliver without a skilled birth attendant (paper 3), and while an increasing number of mothers are using birth facilities, the quality of care varies widely. The report cites two broad scenarios to describe the landscape of poor maternal health care – the absence of timely access to care (defined as ‘too little, too late’) and over-medicalisation of normal antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal care (defined as ‘too much, too soon’). Both scenarios are examples of poor quality care. The problem of over-medicalisation has historically been associated with high-income countries, but it is rapidly becoming more common in low- and middle-income countries, increasing health costs and the risk of harm (paper 2, panel 1). For instance, more than a third of all births to the richest 20 percent of women in Namibia and South Africa are now by caesarean section.

“An essential part of advancing maternal health in Nigeria is accelerating the progress of family planning education and services to all women, thus preventing unwanted pregnancy,” said Series author, Professor Oona Campbell, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. “But women, families and society need births too, and it is unethical and simply unacceptable to encourage women to give birth in places with low facility capability, with unskilled providers, or where the content of care is not evidence-based. This failing should be remedied as a matter of priority.” [2] Most low- and middle-income countries are on course to experience substantial economic growth, which will increase their fiscal space for health investments in maternal and newborn health (paper 5).

The authors of the Series identify five key priorities (paper 6) that require immediate attention in order to achieve the SDG global target of a maternal mortality ratio of less than 70 per 100,000 live births. These include prioritising quality maternal health services that respond to local needs; promoting equity through universal coverage of quality maternal health services; improving the health workforce and facility capability; guaranteeing sustainable financing for maternal and perinatal health; and better evidence, advocacy, and accountability for progress.



Signed: Communications
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa
Email: communications@wellbeingfoundationnig.org
Web: www.wbfafrica.org

More Photo

Toyin Saraki: “Midwives Are Well Placed To Make A Significant Contribution To Saving Lives”

Yesterday, Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, HE Toyin Saraki delivered the keynote speech during the Women Pre-Conference of the 4th Nigeria Family Planning Conference at the Centre for Women Development in Abuja. The theme was: Women and Family Planning in Nigeria: A critical Requirement for Harnessing Demographic Dividend for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

HE Toyin Saraki commenced her speech by emphasising the importance of family planning for women and how its benefits go beyond women and mothers. “Family planning is more than contraception. It means much more than the avoidance or delay of pregnancy or childbearing. Family planning has been adjudged as one of the most positively impactful interventions in human and societal development. It is an enabler - an empowerment approach.”

“Women are key if we want to achieve the demographic dividend that comes with an interplay of reduced total fertility rate (TFR), an expanded base of the working-age population, and improved educational, infrastructural and healthcare investments. This holds true anywhere in the world, including low-income and high-income countries. In developing policies and programming of family planning, the voices and sensitivities of the women need to be considered. Without speaking with the women of Nigeria and learning what they need, we are again deciding for them and not providing what they need. “

Mrs. Saraki, who promotes midwifery globally as International Confederation Of Midwives" Global Goodwill Ambassador concluded with a pledge to utilize her new position as the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) Family Planning Champion in Nigeria to advance family planning in Nigeria.

The event also had in attendance a representative of the Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development and the National Population Council, the Country Director of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, dignitaries from the Association for the Advancement Family Planning, Police Wives Association, Market Women Association and lots of other women organisations.

President of Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Toyin Saraki, said Thursday women are the “engine-starter” and “key” to Nigeria’s achieving demographic dividend and progress in Sustainable Development Goals, if they are allowed to decide for themselves.

Saraki, named United Nations Population Fund’s family planning champion, said demographic dividend came with women being able to reduce the total number of children they have, having an expanded working-age population and less dependence, improved investment in education, infrastructure and health care.

The wife of Nigeria's senate president, Saraki told a briefing ahead of the fourth national family planning conference in Abuja, “Without speaking with the women of Nigeria and learning what they need, we are again deciding for them and not providing what they need.”

Among 42 million women of reproductive age in Nigeria having on average six children per woman, only 15% of them use any contraception at all—a situation Saraki said was “more burdensome” on women and their families.

“When a family has the power to choose when to have a child and how many children, they become the owners of their own destinies,” she said.

Saraki vowed to use her position to champion family planning, insisting Nigeria could not achieve its potential as a country without a strong national family planning programme.

Toyin Saraki congratulates Trinidad & Tobago Midwifery Association at the Mamatoto Annual Midwifery Conference

ICM Global Goodwill Ambassador and Founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Her-Excellency Toyin Saraki, congratulates the Trinidad and Tobago Midwifery Association – Mamatoto Annual Midwifery Conference. The 2-Day Mamatoto Annual Midwifery Conference took place in Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday 27 and Friday 28 October.

Mrs Saraki while congratulating the midwives, policymakers, key thought leaders, and all participants at the Mamatoto Midwifery Conference, highlighted the role and importance of midwives in the life of a new born and also in the life of the mother.

“Sincerest congratulations to all of you here today, the midwives, policymakers, key thought leaders, all convened at this Mamatoto Annual Midwifery Conference, in Trinidad And Tobago, whose drive, resourcefulness, and sheer brilliance has made a positive difference to thousands upon thousands of lives around the world. It is with great disappointment that I cannot be there with you today, but my warmest wishes and greatest goodwill are with you all.

You are the educators and advocates for families to community leaders, governments, and the world at large. The antenatal experience – one of humanity’s most mysterious life experiences – is something you navigate every single day without panic. Without your voices, pregnancy and childbirth would be a frightening experience for many.

You are the voice for families. But you are also so much more. Yours are the first hands to hold a baby, the chariot that brings them into the world, and the touch that gives them life.”

Toyin Saraki Commends Cambridge University In Waiving Application Fees For Post-Graduate Students From African Countries

HE Toyin Saraki, Founder-President of The Wellbeing Foundation Africa commended the leadership at Cambridge University for waiving application fees for African students.

This announcement was made at Cambridge-Africa Day on Tuesday 25 October, where Mrs. Saraki gave the afternoon keynote speech on the importance of closer collaboration between African health specialists and global universities such as Cambridge University.

She noted how academic research cascades down to affect individuals at a community level and frontline health workers. Other speakers of the day included Professor Richard Leakey the palaeontologist and Professor Ebenezer Owusu, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana.

“I am so pleased by the news from Cambridge University. Yesterday I was hugely encouraged by the sheer quality of much needed research, led by African post graduate students, from Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, to name just a few, in close collaboration with their research mentors from Cambridge University. The collaborations demonstrated that clear solutions to challenges that have bedevilled the global development community: from predicting, preventing and patient management of pre-eclampsia and adverse drug reactions and pharmaco vigilance ‎in patients of African descent; to the environmental importance of bat conservation to agricultural ecology and in turn or food security, could be solved.

“In truth, the African solutions to African challenges will come from raising African research to the highest of global excellence, as manifested by the quality emanating from empowering African students to pursue further skills at Cambridge, a leading global institution. I commend the leadership of Cambridge University in waiving application fees for African post-graduate students as a step of singular goodwill towards global development, that will reverberate for generations.

“An old African proverb is that ‘It is the person that wear the shoe that knows where it is pinching’ this application fee waiver will allow more African students of deserving intellect, to access the opportunities of ground-breaking research, to return with greater skills, which can be applied to our local challenges, that may hitherto have gone un-researched and unsolved due to the global institutions not knowing the challenges existed.”

Why the Chibok Abduction is Symptomanic of Nigeria's Enduring Problem with Women - By Toyin Saraki

For almost two and a half years, Nigeria has been living with the scar of Chibok.

In April 2014, the militant group Boko Haram entered the village and summarily abducted 276 girls from a government-run school. Fifty-seven of the girls escaped within hours of the abduction, but the vast majority have remained in captivity since then. The depressing irony often ignored is that the very school the girls were abducted from was set up as a response to Boko Haram.

The girls who were taken had already witnessed the destruction the group had wrought, not only in terms of lives, but in terms of opportunities as well. Their previous schools had been closed as a result of Boko Haram attacks. The school where they would be taken from was supposed to empower these girls and give them the fast-track revision needed to ensure they could still sit their exams even after their schools were forcibly closed. Instead, it was the scene of the terrible crime against them.

On Thursday, 21 of the girls were finally released and this has to be seen as good news. But add to that the one girl who escaped Boko Haram captivity in May and the number of liberated Chibok girls makes up little more than 10 percent of those captured in 2014.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. And the Chibok incident is itself only one particularly horrendous example of a much wider abduction problem linked to the conflict with Boko Haram and similar hostilities across the continent. Since 2014, over 2,000 women and girls have been abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria, with several other incidents recorded in neighboring Cameroon. Further east in Somalia and Kenya, another militant group, Al-Shabab, have been linked to multiple abductions of women and children, many of whom have never been seen since.

This is not just an issue of gender. Men and boys are also regularly abducted. But it is an outrage that the abduction of women and children has now seemingly become a normalized symptom of conflict. The global reaction that followed Chibok and briefly brought the issue to the world’s attention has now died away. The story of the release of 21 Chibok girls from Boko Haram caused a brief surge in international media attention, only to quickly fall by the wayside.

The answer to how to counteract this trend is complex, as it is with the issue of sexual and gender-based violence. But there are things we can do now.

First, we have to accept there is a problem and discuss it openly. To do this, we have to talk more broadly about gender equality. Women are not a commodity to be won and lost in war. Neither are they destined to simply become wives and mothers. There is no justification for why only 50 percent of women in Nigeria are literate compared to 69 percent of men.

This hard data is mirrored by the broader discourse in the media in Nigeria and in Africa generally. For a continent that has made huge progress in the last decade, views towards women and girls have not kept pace. As women, our enduringly accepted and celebrated position as nurturers of families and custodians of the kitchen cannot be allowed to excuse being precluded or denied our right to rise to boardrooms and beyond.

Second, we must throw more resources into protecting and empowering women and girls. One immediate way of doing this would be opening up the options available to women and girls who believe they are at risk.

The reality is that females, especially in more remote or marginalized communities in countries such as Nigeria and Cameroon, have hardly any engagement with the state or with independent professionals who may be able to offer them support or flag concerns to those who could protect them. Rolling out the kind of support millions of women around the world take for granted would be a start. Support like professional pre and postnatal care, where not only women’s physical health can be addressed, would also provide an opportunity for their fears and concerns be heard in confidence.

Childbirth can be one of the few times many women are exposed to professional health workers, so the state should therefore empower midwives to be a gateway to support for women and girls at risk in Nigeria and beyond. The same has to be true in education. We must track the development of girls throughout their lives and ensure they have outlets they can trust.

Third, the state in conjunction with NGOs should do far more to monitor women and especially young girls. To spot potential threats and to intervene ahead of possible abductions. Amnesty International claimed that the Nigerian armed forces knew of the Chibok attack four hours before it happened—though the military denied this claim. This suggests the possibility of an attack had been known about for even longer, yet little was done to protect those at risk.

Too often women and girls are invisible in Nigeria—in health, in education, in the workplace. If they are devalued in our society, surely we should also question whether we are taking the issue of their disappearance seriously enough as well. Chibok has brought the gender dynamic of Nigerian politics and the Boko Haram conflict brutally to the fore. We have to now confront both issues before it’s too late.

Toyin Saraki is the founder and president of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, a Nigerian NGO focused on gender equality. She tweets @ToyinSaraki.

Toyin Saraki Delivers Keynote Address At University Of Cambridge’s Africa Day 2016

Toyin Saraki Delivers Keynote Address At University Of Cambridge – “Partnerships And Collaborations Will Unlock Africa’s Potential” on Tuesday, 25 October, 2016, Cambridge, UK.

Today, Founder-President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Toyin Saraki delivered the afternoon Keynote Speech at the Cambridge-Africa Day hosted by the University of Cambridge, Emmanuel College. Cambridge-Africa Day brings together leaders in African research partnerships and projects to showcase their collaborations and research on the topics of conservation, anthropology, and mental and maternal health and wellbeing.

Mrs. Saraki commenced her address by recognising the importance of academic institutional engagement in shaping policy around health.

“Academia and knowledge transformation is a wholly worthy cause. However, what is of greater interest to the WBFA is how academic research trickles down to affect individuals at a community level,” said Mrs. Saraki, “I believe that research should serve the dual effect of informing academia and policy, as well as providing data and tools that build capacity that transform knowledge acquired by research into tangible action and results.”

The Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA) has been committed to research, policy and data since its inception in 2004. Since 2015, the organisation’s premier partnership with Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Johnson and Johnson has delivered the Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care training programme for accredited further education to midwives and medical workers in Kwara State. As one of three MamaCare educational programme, including the Antenatal Education Programme and the recently launched Adolescent Skills & Drills Personal Social and Health Education Curriculum, the Wellbeing Foundation’s MamaCare Skills and Drills program has continued to train some 320 midwives across Nigeria. To date, no MamaCare midwife has recorded maternal or newborn death since receiving this life-saving and life-giving upskilling training.

WBFA and the Founder-President have continuously advocated for better health and gender data collection and publication. The WBFA Personal Health Record allows families and health professionals to track the progress of a pregnancy, to register the birth and record immunisation and health information. On International Girl of the Day Child, October 15th, Mrs. Saraki committed to partnering with Nigerian Federal Government in ensuring that all Nigerian Children have a PHR in the next 5 years.

Today at the Cambridge- Africa Day, Mrs Saraki emphasised the importance of collaborations, research and data in Africa: “There must be data revolution in Africa, to give us an accurate indication of who, what and where our attention is needed. Partnerships and collaborations between the UK and African institutions – such as the University of Cambridge – can and will provide the key that Africa needs to unlock its potential, and on behalf of the WBFA I thank the University of Cambridge for recognising the necessity of education to achieve this end.”

Mrs Saraki always looking sweet.

The Founder and President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Mrs. Toyin Saraki was honoured yesterday as a Fellow of the Academy of Public Health (FAPH), by the West African Academy of Public Health (WAAPH) during the inauguration of the Strategic Advisory Board of the Academy in Abuja.

Mrs. Saraki, honorary chair of the investiture, inaugurated the 31 Member Strategic Advisory Board of WAAPH, acknowledging and appreciating the efforts of the West African Academy of Public Health for their shared vision to transform and strengthen West Africa’s public health institutional and systems capability, while providing knowledge to achieve better health outcomes for all.

While congratulating the newly inaugurated board members, led by Chair, Dr Khaliru Alhassan, former Minister Of Health, and Vice-Chair, The Right Honourable Mulikat Akande-Adeola, former House Of Representatives Member,    Mrs. Saraki said: “I congratulate everyone being inaugurated today as a Member of the WAAPH Strategic Advisory Board. I am encouraged by the wide range of seasoned experts here, from policy and programmatic leaders, to political will and citizens engagement civil society actors; let us continue to invest in healthcare in Africa and especially our own country, Nigeria, as this is an investment for our future and the future of our children, today.”

The Fellow of the Academy of Public Health certificate was presented to Mrs Saraki by the Chairman Board of Directors and President, West African Academy of Public Health, Dr. Francis Ohanyido.

“I am honoured to become a Fellow of this West African Regional Academy today. At no time in our developmental history has regional cohesion been more important, given the health and wellbeing delivery challenges exacerbated by the migrants and refugees crises, to tackle regional challenges and proffer regional solutions. Research is a vital component for better health outcomes, to transform and advance our nations, in order to achieve the UN global goals. We must ensure that we improve and strengthen national and regional health data and accountability, which are essential in measuring national health impact, progress and spending.” She said.

Other organisations present at the inauguration included The White Ribbon Alliance, ONE Campaign, SynergyPMP, Christian Aid, Academy of Learning Nigeria and Silver Lining for the Needy Initiative.

By SUNDAY ODIBASHI

Leads Wellbeing Foundation Africa to White House Global Devt. Summit


THE Founder and President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), Mrs. Toyin Saraki, has continued to develop unparalleled profile among Nigerian women and celebrated First Ladies in her ceaseless commitment to ameliorate the lives of the poor and vulnerable section of the population.

Toyin, wife of the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has remained unconstrained by the absence of executive privileges as wife of a former governor, unlike virtually all other former governors’ wives, in her humanitarian services to indigent citizens. She has demonstrated that the pet project which she started as wife of a governor many years ago was borne out of a vision for humanity than political motive.

Amidst her several global activities, including presentations at the United Nations, in her recent activities, Toyin Saraki, Founder and President of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa (WBFA), and Stephen Sobhani, Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, were honoured with an invitation to participate at the White House Global Development Summit, which held in Washington D.C. on 20th July, 2016.

The Summit brought together development leaders, public and private sector partners, civil society organizations, diplomats, and entrepreneurs to discuss the progress achieved by the Administration’s approach to development and chart a course forward to continue the progress in the years ahead. There were a series of panel discussions all through that highlighted President Barak Obama’s global development initiatives. Strive Masiyiwa introduced President Obama, who spoke at the summit.

Toyin Saraki spoke on the progress made in moving towards achieving global development goals, and also emphasised the fact that there was so much left to be done. She also reiterated the importance of midwives in reducing the burden of maternal and newborn mortality, while achieving the sustainable development goals.

The importance of educating, equipping, deploying and empowering midwives and other healthcare professionals in Nigeria and across the sub-Saharan Africa region was also at the heart of Mrs. Saraki’s messages.

“Each time I attend a White House event, whether to celebrate creative arts, or to share solutions and measure SDG progress in global health, youth, power, energy, food security, youth, governance, partnerships or global development, I am reminded of the extraordinary leadership that President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama have given, of themselves, through their efforts, and the unique partnerships made possible by the United States of America’s development agencies to improve the lives and livelihoods of women, men and children around the world. I treasure these words spoken to our congregation of partners as the core principles and a guiding testimony of Wellbeing Africa’s efforts,” declared Toyin Saraki.

Stephen Sobhani spoke on the need to ensure that reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) remains a global health priority, while also commending the progress made in the health sector, globally.

The White House Summit on Global Development focused on global health, energy, food security, good governance, partnership, and youth engagement, amongst other areas. All participants, including development sector leaders; public and private sector partners; civil society activists; diplomats; and entrepreneurs were encouraged to celebrate shared contributions that have led to dramatic progress in these sectors.

“And so today, we reaffirm our belief that in the 21st century, no child should go to bed hungry, and no child should die from a mosquito bite, and no one should be denied opportunity because of where they are born or what gender or religion they are, or the color of their skin or who they love. All of us are born equal and we’re all connected. And if a schoolhouse door is closed to a young girl, then we’re all diminished. And when a mother can’t buy medicine for her sick child, or a family flees violence whether in Syria or El Salvador, in a sense that makes us all poorer and all less secure. That’s what we believe, and that’s what brings us here together,” President Barack Obama had declared.

Source: http://www.mynigerianewspaper.com/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2984