As a way of curbing maternal and child mortality rates in barracks, the Defence and Police Officers Wives Association (DEPOWA) has inaugurated a maternity hospital at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna State.
At the ceremony, on Tuesday, wife of the Chief of Defence Staff and National President of DEPOWA, Mrs Oghogho Musa, said the high rate of maternal and child deaths within the barracks as a result of lack of access to quality healthcare, had necessitated the association to embark on the project.
The maternity healthcare facility located at the Nigerian Defence Academy Hospital, Ribadu, Cantonment, is the brainchild of the immediate past DEPOWA President, Victoria Irabor, who saw the need to make healthcare accessible to women living within the barracks.
The facility was in turn furnished with state-of-the-art medical facilities by her successor, Musa, who described the project as a demonstration of the will to improve maternity and child health outcomes.
“On assumption of office months ago as the 15th President of Depowa, I did a deep assessment in key areas where we could add value to the lives of women and girls, and healthcare emerged as the key area of need,” she said.
“The statistics of child and maternal mortality rates are proof that a lot needs to be done to safeguard the lives of women and their babies. The commissioning of the maternity centre is our collective effort towards improving maternity outcomes in the country,” she said.
On her part, former DEPOWA President, Victoria Irabor, said apart from women and children who will be beneficiaries of the facility, the NDA Commandant and the Executive Secretary of Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Board believed it would also enhance the well-being of soldiers and others within the immediate environment.
She said, “Today marks a significant milestone not just for the NDA barracks, but for every family who calls the Nigerian barracks home. The commissioning of the maternity home is a beacon of hope that we all are striving towards. The journey of motherhood requires strength and support that only a community like ours can understand.
“This project is to pay back to the NDA and the community. I must say that I have a sentimental attachment to the NDA clinic because I was severally admitted here. On one occasion, my husband had to fix the windows and nets due to the mosquitoes here. I hope that this facility would go a long way to alleviate the suffering and challenges faced by women in this community.”
The Commandant of the NDA, Major General John Ochai, said with the facility now functional, the expectation is that pregnant women and children would now have access to quality and affordable healthcare services within their immediate environment.
He said, “There is a need for the strengthening of the health facility, considering that the vast majority of the officers and their families live in the Ribadu cantonment, and the barracks community is so large that a healthcare facility is critical and necessary here.
“It takes a lot of leadership for her (DEPOWA President) to source the funds to be able to execute this project. So she has executed a government responsibility. Government cannot do everything. We need private partnerships to be able to achieve a lot. She completed a project that was initiated by her predecessors, and we are very pleased with the project.”
The Executive Secretary, of Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Jamoh Yusuf, also commended the initiative.
“My heart is overjoyed as we commission this edifice. The immediate past president, Vickie Irabor donated the building, while the serving president, equipped it with state-of-the-art equipment. We have gone through the facility, and we can say that this is commendable. The maternal and child centre will go a long way to reduce the maternal and child mortality rate in the community,” he said.
