Jonathan: Maternal mortality rate drops by 30%

The president who made the commendation yesterday at the official commissioning of a 40-bed Comprehensive Cottage Hospital in Otuoke, Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, put the nation’s current maternal mortality rate at 350 as against 500 deaths per one hundred thousand women recorded in 2008.
He noted that the present administration would not relent in its efforts at attaining the MDGs target of 250 per one hundred thousand women by 2015, and restated his commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), especially in the health sector.
While urging the state government to take ownership of the health facility to ensure sustainability of the project, President Jonathan informed that government would not site projects in communities where such properties are not guarded and protected by the people.
Also speaking, Governor Dickson described the hospital project as a product of the collaboration between the federal and state governments, while the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, said land would be acquired to build a School of Midwifery to complement the efforts toward achieving the MDGs in the state.