As part of Transaid’s work to implement an emergency transport system in Northern Nigeria, Transaid has been working with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) on establishing a scheme to help pregnant women reach healthcare facilities when they are most in need.
The three main problems relating to why pregnant women do not receive the urgent medical attention they need which can result in maternal mortality are often attributed to the following three delays:
1. Delay in the decision to seek medical attention
2. Delay in reaching the healthcare facility
3. Delay in receiving care
Transaid is addressing the second delay, which is often due to the lack of available or affordable transport, by working with taxi drivers who are volunteering their services within the community to transport pregnant women in emergencies, mostly free of charge.
In order to boost awareness of the scheme and to get as many drivers on board as possible, Transaid carried out a series of short training sessions for drivers in conjunction with the NURTW at local taxi parks, where drivers also had the opportunity to discuss the initiative.
This work is kindly being supported by Transaid member company Bandvulc who provided over 2,500 stickers for the campaign and The T-Shirt Printers who provided an equivalent number of t-shirts for participating drivers. The stickers and t-shirts carried messages in the local Hausa language to alert people to the scheme.
The Emergency Transport System implemented has proved to be very successful in Jigawa State and has now been rolled out to three other States within Northern Nigeria.
See also:
Nigeria, Emergency Transport System for Pregnant Women, PRRINN-MNCH Update, Oct. 2009
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