Health
Rotary seeks partnership to reduce child, maternal mortality in Nigeria
Tosin Oyediran
The Rotary Club of Ikoyi has called for stronger collaboration among the government, the private sector, corporate organisations and individuals to reduce child and maternal mortality in Nigeria.
The club’s president, Christopher Ehiogie, said reducing child and maternal mortality requires a shared commitment from all stakeholders, expressing optimism that stronger partnerships would significantly improve healthcare outcomes and save more lives across the country.
He made the call on Monday during the donation of child and maternal health equipment, including neonatal resuscitation and maternal training equipment, to Island Maternity Hospital.
The club also conducted vision and hearing screening for Primary One pupils in Ikoyi-Obalende Local Council Development Area
According to Ehiogie, collective efforts are needed to address the country’s high mortality rate among mothers and newborns.
He noted that the intervention is designed not only to save lives but also to improve the quality of healthcare through sustainable investments in medical infrastructure and human capacity.
He said the club’s support goes beyond the donation of life-saving medical equipment, noting that nurses would also receive specialised training to ensure the equipment is effectively utilised.
“We will not only donate the equipment, but we will also train the nurses. That is creating a lasting impact,” he said.
Ehiogie explained that equipping healthcare workers with the necessary skills would strengthen the healthcare system and ensure that the benefits of the intervention are sustained long after the equipment has been deployed.
He added that the knowledge acquired through the training would be passed on to future generations of healthcare professionals, creating a ripple effect that would continue to improve maternal and newborn care in Nigeria.
Speaking on the vision and hearing screening initiative, the District Governor of Rotary District 9112, Layi Abidoye, said the vision and hearing screening initiative was born out of the realisation that poor academic performance among children is often linked to undetected health challenges such as hearing and vision problems.
“We discovered that when children are accused of not learning well, it might be because they cannot see well or hear well. That is why we are here to carry out this project so we can detect these issues early and address them,” Abidoye said.
According to him, the pilot project has already identified about 17 pupils with hearing challenges and between 12 and 13 pupils with vision problems, including refractive errors and cases of infectious conjunctivitis. He added that the affected children are already receiving treatment.
“We will not only identify the symptoms; we will also treat them,” he said.
Abidoye explained that the initiative would initially focus on public primary schools, where early detection could significantly improve learning outcomes and ensure that children are not left behind because of correctable impairments.
He also noted that the long-term goal is to scale up the project across Lagos State by integrating routine hearing and vision screening into the public primary school system.
“Our plan is to present the statistics from this pilot project, engage the government and ensure that every child entering a public primary school is screened for hearing and vision,” he said.
Ehiogie said more than 350 pupils have already been screened under the pilot phase, which forms part of a broader programme targeting about 15,000 schoolchildren across Lagos State.
He disclosed that the project, valued at approximately $54,000, is being implemented in collaboration with international partners and five Rotary clubs in Lagos.
“This is a global project involving international partners and five clubs in Lagos, with the Rotary Club of Ikoyi playing a leading role,” he said.
He added that the initiative aligns with Rotary International’s vision of creating lasting impact through service, noting that early detection and treatment would improve learning outcomes for affected children.
The Supervisor for Education in Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA, Funlola Adedayo, also welcomed the initiative, describing it as timely and impactful.
“We have reached our children in their formative years. No child will be left behind because of vision or hearing impairments. We are grateful that Ikoyi-Obalende has been chosen as the pilot location for this initiative,” she said.
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