A civil society group has reiterated that it is unacceptable that about 58,000 women die yearly in maternal/child mortality-related issues.

The group, Ummah Support Initiative, also said all tiers of government have crucial roles in efforts to curb the menace.

The Executive Director of the initiative, Mr. Abdullahi Danjuma, made this known at the Emir of Jiwa Palace in Abuja during a sensitisation/advocacy programme tagged “Make Naija Stronger” organised by the Ummah Support Initiative in collaboration with ONE.

Danjuma said the aim of the programme was to realise that there is a deficit of health facilities and mobilise the residents to demand for their health rights from the authorities concerned.

He further lamented that inadequate funding in the sector has denied pregnant mothers access to quality health services, a problem largely responsible for the high rate of maternal mortality in the country.

“We are calling on the government to do three things to address the health challenges; fully fund the National Health Act and its provisions; increase transparency in health programming and spending and scale-up investments in the 2017 budget for areas that can have the greatest health impact for Nigerian citizens,” he said.

A cross section of participants at the workshop decried the poor state of Jiwa Primary Health Care Centre. The noted that the centre was bedevilled by lack of qualified doctors and inadequate drugs.

One of the residents, Nuhu Zassa who spoke with our reporter said it was quite unfortunate that Jiwa, the largest ward in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), did not have a well-structured and equipped General Hospital to render quality health services to the residents.