Polaris Bank in partnership with Societal Healthcare Organisation (SHO), has organised a training for community midwives and health extension workers in Northern Nigeria themed: Life Saving Skills (LSS).

The 3-day intensive training is part of efforts to reduce mortality and morbidity associated with major causes of maternal and neonatal death in the country.

In his opening remarks, Polaris Bank’s Group Head, North-West Group II, Mr. Ahmed Badru, disclosed that the Bank’s intervention was designed to combat the incidence of maternal deaths in Northern Nigeria. There is an estimated statistic of 546 maternal deaths in Northern Nigeria out of reported 100,000 cases in sub-Saharan Africa.

Mr. Badru explained that in line with the Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), strategic focus on health, the workshop set out to train fifty (50) community midwives and health extension workers, randomly selected from 80 percent public and 20 percent private hospitals in Kano state.

“We will continue to work in partnership with relevant organizations like SHO to improve maternal health so that we can contribute our quota to reducing deaths that occur as a result of complications of pregnancy or childbirth,” he added.

On his part, the Executive Secretary of Societal Healthcare Organization, Dr. Mahmoud K. Dankadai, expressed profound gratitude to Polaris Bank for partnering with their organization to improve the health and wellbeing of women and children in Nigeria.

He appreciated the Bank for providing medical consumables comprising Polaris Bank branded bags; umbilical cord scissors; latex sterile gloves; delivery mats; surgical blades; cord clamps; povidone iodine; baby oil; hand sanitizers and facemasks in addition to the intensive training availed the participants.

The Group Head, who represented Polaris Bank’s Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Innocent C. Ike, pledged the Bank’s commitment to improved maternal health in Nigeria.

The training which took place at the Centre for Infectious Diseases Research (CIDR), Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano had on its faculty; Prof. Isa Abubakar, Director of CIDR; Prof. Zubaida Farouk of Department of Pediatrics and Prof. Muhammad Abdussalam of Department of Pediatrics, all of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and Bayero University, Kano.

Societal Healthcare Organization is an NGO that offers unique community outreach and social services. Its mission is to provide qualitative and effective health to deprived groups, especially women and children in collaboration with stakeholders.

Polaris Bank has been in the forefront of a series of global action to reduce premature deaths among women. It has supported over 30 indigent cancer patients for treatment; free scanning programmes for over 20,000 women and donated cancer screening machines to Care Organization and Public Enlightenment (C.O.P.E) to enhance quality diagnosis and clinical practices serving all classes of women in Nigeria.

Polaris Bank’s consistent support for Nigeria’s health sector was recently recognized as the “Outstanding Healthcare Financial Institution of the Year” by the Nigeria Healthcare Excellence Awards (NHEA), the nation’s premier Health Award body.

Polaris Bank, adjudged the Digital Bank of the Year, is a future-determining Bank committed to delivering industry-defining products to individuals and businesses.