Due to lack of motorable roads, some communities in Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State say they use donkeys and ox-drawn trucks to transport pregnant women and sick people to hospitals.
The communities disclosed this on Wednesday at Babuwuri and Ngummachame settlements, which are tagged“Hard-To-Reach (HTR)” in terms of healthcare by the EU/UNICEF.
The Heads of the settlements, Malam Magaji Abdu and Alhaji Ahmadu Garba, disclosed that the only means of transporting pregnant women and sick ones to health facilities were donkeys and ox-drawn trucks.
“This is due to the hard to reach nature of our settlements coupled with the lack of road networks and distance from health facilities.
“If a woman developed obstructed labour or any delivery complications as well as sick ones who cannot be conveyed on motorcycles, the last option is to use either donkeys or ox-drawn trucks.
“This is done over a distance of 20km or 15km depending on the location of the settlements and health facilities,” Abdu said.
The community leader, however, thanked God that in 2018, the EU/UNICEF introduced a health programme whereby a medical team came to their settlements once a month to conduct antenatal on pregnant mothers and children below five years.
On his part, Garba said: “They visit our settlements once in a month and render various medical services including antenatal, nutritional, minor ailments, immunisation and others.
“Fortunately for us, both the services and drugs are given to us free of charge and it has reduced both maternal and child mortality rates.”
The community heads, who are also the village mobilisers for the programme, stressed that in spite of EU/UNICEF assistance, they still used donkeys and ox-drawn trucks to convey patients during emergencies.
They called on the state government to provide them with roads, health facilities and schools, as well as to sustain the EU/UNICEF outreach programme in their areas.
