By Asmau Ahmad
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), FCT chapter has trained 45 medical doctors on neonatal care, following concerns about increased neonatal deaths in the country. The Vice Chairman of the Association, Dr Achonwa Chiedozie, said this in an interview with the news men on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 2015 Physicians’ Week, an annual event of the NMA. Chiedozie said the training was part of the Association’s contributions to address problems associated with neonatal deaths. He said “we are training 45 doctors in the private sector on neonatal resuscitation, which is one way of reducing infant mortality”.
“Every doctor should be able to know what to do within the first one to five minute of life to make sure they keep babies breathing.”
“Neonatal resuscitation is simply helping babies to breath; it’s a programme that targets the first one minute of life called the golden minute and a lot depends on what happens in the first one minute of life.’’
He explained that some children could be subjected to a life of misery, especially those who were susceptible to life threatening situations if the first one minute was not properly managed. The vice chairman said the Association had always been in the vanguard for good and accessible health care, stressing that the NMA was part of the coalition that pressed for the passage of the National Health Act 2014. According to him, the Association is still advocating that government should implement the Act because it contains what will help to improve the lives of Nigerians.
