By Asma’u Ahmad
The National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) said it has commenced training of drivers on safety strategies to adopt while transporting pregnant women with complications to health facilities.
The Consultant of the NURTW Emergency Transport Scheme, Alhaji Ismail Balogun, made this known on Thursday in Lafia, Nasarawa State, while addressing members of the union. Alhaji Balogun said that the training was to curb the increasing rate of maternal mortality.
He said that 30 drivers selected from Doma and Nasarawa-Eggon Local Government Areas of the state would benefit from the scheme.
According to him, the training will focus on the safety strategies to adopt while transporting pregnant women with complications to health facilities for proper medical attention.
He said that about 1,000 pregnant women were expected to be transported within one year in the two selected local government areas under the scheme.
He said that Nasarawa was chosen alongside 11 other states that would benefit from the scheme as a result of the high maternal mortality rate.
“The 2013 National Demographic Health Survey reported that Nasarawa State has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in Northern Nigeria with 1,000, out of every 100,000 pregnant women, dying during child birth,” Balogun said.
He said that the scheme would be expanded to other local government areas of the state depending on the outcome of the pilot scheme.
The consultant said that all the volunteering drivers would be rewarded with preferential loading slots from their various motor parks.
In his remarks, the state NURTW, Malam Salihu Adamu said that the aim of the scheme was to assist the government to stem high rate of maternal mortality.
