The President, Association of Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) Prof. Oladapo Ladipo, has described the high rate of maternal deaths in the country as shameful, as he insisted Nigeria does not lack the needed qualities to make the health sector work.

Ladipo joined other experts to demand free maternal and family planning services especially at rural areas, at a one-day summit organised by the Association of Health Journalists (ANHEJ) with support from Partnership for Advocacy In Child and Family Health at Scale (PACFaH@scale), and the Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) in Abuja.

While urging the media not to relent in setting agenda for the incoming administration on the need to take the health sector more seriously, he expressed disappointment that past government’s had failed to prioritise the sector whose issues were in need of utmost attention to avert preventable deaths and health induced sufferings.

He said: “Health is a basic human right, when health is absent wisdom cannot manifest itself, making health a priority as number one or two on the government agenda will go a long way to reduce the challenges in the sector.

“Provision of enough funds for the sector is paramount here, women are about 50 per cent of the country’s population and no woman should die in the process of giving birth to another life.

“Women are about 50 per cent of the country’s population and no woman should die in the process of giving birth to another life. Maternal death in Nigeria is very shameful, we do not lack the qualities to make things work,” he added. (New Telegraph)