In its effort to assist pregnant women in the state, the Jigawa state primary healthcare development agency has entered a Memorandum of understanding with over 600 private car owners to transport pregnant women to any nearby health facility.
The Director of the Agency, Dr Abdulkadir Yakubu disclosed this during a town hall meeting organized by Save the Children held in Kiyawa local government area.
According to him, the Save the children through Inspiring project will support the programme and also include children under 5 years in any emergencies.
He said the programme was aimed at ensuring pregnant women were delivering in the hospital and at controlling birth complications, maternal and child mortality cases in the state.
Dr Abdulkadir Yakubu pointed out that, under the programme, car owners were selected by members from the respective community and were screened by the state government.
He further explained that under the agreement, any car owner would be on alert at any time to convey pregnant women or children under 5 years in his area to a designated health facility.
The Director noted that each car owner is given a stipend of 4,000 naira per trip.
He said the Jigawa state government has a special fund in the agency’s account for this purpose, noting that, car owners will be paid monthly according to the number of trips.
Earlier, the Save the Children state Project manager, Alhaji Abdullahi Magama said as part of SCI efforts to save the lives of children and pregnant women, thousands of health equipment are provided to the state.
Magama added that various training to both health workers and other stakeholders have been organized by saving the children for better delivery in the state.
END/USMAN Mohammed Zaria
