Free Maternal Healthcare Bill Scales First Reading, CHRICED calls Journalists to Support

Resource Center for Human Rights and Civic Education CHRICED has called on journalists to play their role as stakeholders in ensuring that the Kano State Free Maternal and Child Healthcare Bill (FMCHB) is quickly passed into law before a new administration sets in.

The Executive Director of CHRICED, Comrade Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi made this call on Thursday while briefing the media at the CHRICED Secretariat in Kano State as the FMCHB scales first reading on the floor of the Kano State House of Assembly (KSHoA). The bill is sponsored by the Deputy Majority Leader, Hon. Pharmacist Magaji Dahiru Zarewa of Rogo constituency and Hon. Dr. Musa Ali Kachako of Takai constituency.

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“The issue of maternal and child mortality affects everyone of us in one way or the other. Every day, a woman or her child dies in the process of childbirth and the causes of these deaths are preventable. Statistics have shown that Kano state accounts for the highest number of maternal mortality in Nigeria as a result of large population, infrastructural deficits, high level of illiteracy, high poverty rate, culture and others.

It will be difficult to find any Nigerian who has not lost a wife, sister, cousin friend or any relative through childbirth and you know what it means to lose a loved one through that process. There is no society that will feel happy about such”, he stressed.

Dr. Zikirullahi also stated that though there has been an executive order that grants free maternal and child healthcare services in Kano State since 2001, there is still the need for a legislation to back up the order for sustainability of the efforts of the present administration in addressing the scourge of maternal mortality in Kano state.

He commended the Kano state government for its effort to tackle the alarming rate of maternal and child mortality by showing commitment in terms of budgetary allocation on health. He however stressed the need for transparency, accountability and sustainability.

“It is not about putting structures in place. The sustainability matters. The executive order needs a legal backing as successive governments may have a different perspective on maternal and child health. This order needs to be passed into a law. As it stands now, the order is on a shaky foundation and can be brushed aside anytime and no one can do anything about it since it was not a legislation,” he said.

He emphasized further that “the passage of this bill will build as well as restore confidence in the people of Kano State and it will attract many international agencies to work with the state because Kano state serves as a mini Nigeria and donors want put in their resources to tackle the menace of maternal mortality being rest assured that there will be accountability.

CHRICED has been advocating for improved maternal and child healthcare service delivery system in Kano state as part of its project titled ‘Strengthening Maternal Health And Child Care Through Accountability Interventions in Kano State’ aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality by improving inclusion, transparency and accountability in planning and management of health budgets and programmes in Kano State.