Hacey Health Initiative has presented medical kits and tools worth multi-million naira to the Oyo State government to help pregnant women in the fight against malaria.
The items donated include 30,000 doses of IPTp-SP (Intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine) and 10,000 Malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits, to promote the prevention of malaria in pregnancy as well as 275 android smartphones to Oyo State Ministry of health to improve maternal health response.
Likewise, HACEY trained 370 health workers on leveraging mobile devices to deliver maternal health services and reduce maternal and child morbidity.
Speaking during the presentation of the items to Oyo Primary Healthcare Board in which 17 local government areas benefited in Ibadan, Co-founder, Hacey Health Initiative, Isaiah Owolabi disclosed that the “Impact Health project is a health intervention of Hacey Health Initiative, supported by our partners: Intellectual Property and Research Development (IPRD) Solutions and Argusoft, which aims to reduce maternal health services provision, improving health data collection and management system towards providing accurate evidence to inform policy formations and improving quality of service.”
The Impact Health Platform comprises mobile and web-enabled applications aimed at improving coverage and quality of healthcare delivery, supervision, support, and motivation for providers, especially in hard-to-reach communities. “The goal of the Impact Health Project is to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity by improving reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health (RMNCH) service provision in tertiary, secondary, and primary health institutions and local communities by employing the use of digital and mobile health (mHealth) technology.
“Hacey Health Initiative’s Impact health project has supported in the collection of health information across 21 local governments in the state, covering over 60,000 households using the Family Health Survey mobile application. We have also trained 370 health workers and officials across 103 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in the implementing LGAs on the use of the Quick ANC application for the administration and capturing of IPTp-SP and malaria rapid diagnostic tests,” he said.
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Also speaking, the Project Lead, Hacey Health Initiative, Kemi Omole said the organisation has “always been particular about increasing the life, livelihood of children and mothers, girls and women and this is no exception.”
“So, anything at all that helps to improve the maternal health outcomes is what we always venture into and this is like an opportunity for us to do that as we have always done,” she added.
On the choice of Oyo State for the donation, Omole said: “We have had a long-standing relationship with Oyo State dating back to about 13years, we have several projects that we have been implementing here and I think it also has to do with the kind of receptiveness we get here.
“The state government welcomes people and we don’t get that harsh treatment. At times you go to some states and the kind of reception you get is not good enough but Oyo state has been very receptive to us.”
The Commissioner for Health, Bode Oladipo, a medical doctor said the state cannot do everything alone hence the need to partner with other organizations to scale up the health of the residents.
Oladipo who was represented by Oyewole Lawal, a medical doctor said the government has open doors policy that fosters partnership with any agency that can support the state, adding that the “support from development partners supplement what government is already doing.”
According to him, the state cannot do it alone, and we know that, if we have such a partnership, it will improve not only healthcare service delivery but also in education, agriculture, and every other thing.
While assuring that the government has an integrated supporting supervision, he pointed out, that the state monitor activities of all health facility quarterly and see how they are managed.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, Oyo State Primary Healthcare Board, Muyideen Olatunji, a medical doctor, expressed appreciation of the state to the donor. He said the support has over time helped to complement the effort of the state government in improving the healthcare service delivery of the people.
He assured that the state will make good use of the facility in a way that would encourage more investment by supporting partners and donor agencies.
