Project Summary
Transaid has been supporting Society for Family Health, a local Nigerian non-governmental organisation, to reduce maternal and newborn child deaths in the state of Gombe. Transaid was requested to facilitate the establishment of an emergency transport scheme (ETS) to ensure timely referral of pregnant women to health facilities. Transaid’s role in the project is to establish the scheme in four local government areas in conjunction with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
The Problem
According to the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey an estimated 45% of women in Gombe attended at least one antenatal care visit against 58% nationally and only 17% of women are estimated to have given birth at health facilities in comparison to 35% nationally. In Europe over 99% of deliveries are assisted by a skilled health worker.
The assistance of a professional health care worker is often vital to the survival of the mother and child when complications arise during pregnancy. The distance of modern health facilities from the village in rural areas and the cost of transport to get there is often a decisive factor when families are making the decision on whether or not to seek professional health care. Transaid was tasked to find a solution to link populations with established health facilities.
The Process
The emergency transport scheme uses the already established private system of local taxi drivers to help transport pregnant women who may be experiencing complications. The scheme encourages local taxi drivers to transport women free of charge or for the cost of fuel only to help ease one of the major constraints for surrounding transportation and access to medical care.
Transaid is undertaking the following activities:
• Researching the factors limiting prompt referral of maternal cases to health facilities
• Organising briefing and consultation meetings conducted with Society for Family Health, key stakeholders within the NURTW and the Nigeria Red Cross Society in Gombe.
• Selection and training of four Master Trainers (one from each of the four local government areas)
• Training of NURTW drivers in the fundamentals of the emergency transport system including: the importance of volunteering, recognising maternal danger signs, how to lift and carry a pregnant woman and the importance of minimising delays.
• Mass awareness raising among NURTW drivers at taxi stations across Gombe.
• Producing a list of contact numbers for emergency transport system drivers so that call centres can direct vehicles appropriately
• Implementing an effective monitoring and evaluation system to collect data regarding the number of women being transferred in each location.
Partners
Society for Family Health, National Union of Road and Transport Workers (NURTW)
The Results
160 NURTW drivers have been trained through the emergency transport scheme and approximately 400 drivers have been informed of the scheme through awareness raising activities. Between May and September 2010, ETS drivers transferred 245 women to health facilities across Gombe.
The Impact
Thanks to this community managed scheme, more women are able to access health facilities when they are in need of professional health care during labor and more lives are being saved. In the long term, this project will help to reduce child and maternal mortality which are key Millennium Development Goals.
Click here to read the stories of just some of the women who have benefited from this project
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