The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Infant mortality

  • FG moves to meet 30% maternal, infant mortality 2030 target

    FG moves to meet 30% maternal, infant mortality 2030 target

    The federal government has voiced deep concern over Nigeria’s persistently high maternal and newborn mortality rates and is implementing strategic measures to achieve President Bola Tinubu’s goal of reducing these rates by at least 30% by 2030.  

    Addressing the High-Level Consultation on Accelerating the Reduction of Maternal and Newborn Deaths in Abuja on Thursday, Salma Ibrahim Anas, Special Adviser to the President on Health and Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council (PAC) Sub-Committee on Health, highlighted the government’s renewed commitment to addressing the challenges while emphasising a collaborative approach involving stakeholders from diverse sectors to drive meaningful progress.

    The meeting, which focused on Borno, Sokoto, and Kaduna States, the areas with the highest burden of maternal deaths, brought together government officials, health managers, religious leaders, traditional rulers, and policymakers. 

    Anas emphasized the importance of involving these key influencers to address the socio-cultural and systemic factors contributing to maternal mortality, including cultural norms, religious practices, and resource allocation.

    Noting that while some progress has been made, the high-burden States still account for a disproportionate share of maternal deaths. 

    She highlighted the need for tailored, homegrown solutions that consider the unique challenges faced by communities. 

    This approach involves local stakeholders identifying barriers and proposing practical solutions, which are then integrated into State operational plans and the national health investment framework, she noted.

    Read Also: SOGON seeks FG’s collaboration to curb infant mortality 

    According to her, the government aims to reduce maternal and newborn mortality by at least 30% by 2030, a target set by President Bola Tinubu’s administration. 

    While expressing optimism about achieving the goal, stressing the need for collaboration beyond the health sector, the Presidential aide emphasized the critical role of community leaders, traditional institutions, and religious groups as gatekeepers who can influence behaviours and drive change at the grassroots level.

    Recognizing that previous strategies have not yielded the desired outcomes, she noted that the government has adopted a more introspective approach. 

    She said: “We cannot say we know it all. It’s still work in progress because if we have been doing things for a very long time and it’s not giving us the desirable results, it means there’s something wrong.

    “So we have now paused in this administration to step back, to look into what are the real issues, what is it that we are doing wrongly, and what can we do differently within the shortest possible time. 

    “What we realize is that we are not just handing out an agenda to States and Local government and say implement, that is why we are going down to the Local government, working with the real people, the community leaders, the traditional institutions.

    “Let them come up with the issues in their communities, let them see how we can change the way we are doing things, or how we have to adopt new ways of doing things so that we can reduce maternal mortality in our communities. 

    “So it’s not an issue of pretending, but it’s an issue of bringing innovations, accepting that we have not been on the right track, and that’s why we are not making progress.

    “This administration is doing more of community engagement because this is what President Bola Tinubu is emphasizing and demanding, community engagement, generate the issues from the communities. What are they saying? 

    “Amplify the voices of communities so that they contribute to coming up with homegrown solutions, that they will have full ownership of it and also track progress in terms of implementation”.

    She noted that achieving the set target is attainable but requires the concerted efforts of all stakeholders, saying, “We are very optimistic it is doable, but we can’t do it alone as health workers, as technocrats. 

    “We need to involve the real people, the gatekeepers, the influencers, those that shape actions and behaviours in our communities, they are the people that we have here in this meeting”.

    Development partners, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM), commended the government’s efforts, highlighting promising results, including notable reductions in maternal and newborn deaths in certain regions.

  • Maternal, infant mortality: FG seeks alignment of policies with stakeholders

    Maternal, infant mortality: FG seeks alignment of policies with stakeholders

    The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Muyi Aina, has warned about Nigeria’s slow progress in combating maternal mortality.

    Speaking at the Nigeria Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Forum in Abuja, Aina said the call to action has become imperative considering that Nigeria still holds the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, with 1,047 deaths per 100,000 live births as of 2020.

    The forum, organised in collaboration with Options Consultancy Services, provided a platform for discussing the priorities of Nigeria’s health sector under President Bola Tinubu and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate.

    Aina who called for more urgent action, while decrying the inefficiencies in Nigeria’s healthcare spending, emphasised that the problem lies not in the availability of funds but in their poor allocation and utilisation.

    While acknowledging achievements such as the revitalisation of over 8,000 Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) across the country, with plans to double the figure by 2027, the ED nonetheless stressed that much more remains to be done.

    “We already have increases in the number of Nigerians accessing basic services from our health facilities,” he added, noting a 15% increase in immunization rates and rising antenatal care visits.

    “Despite these successes, Nigeria is still far from achieving its health goals,” he noted.

    Read Also: Maternal, infant mortality: FG seeks alignment of policies with stakeholders 

    Given this, he opined that concerted efforts and the need for more strategic, coordinated approaches to healthcare investment have become inevitable, saying, “We are moving too slowly to where we are supposed to be.

    “We don’t spend right. If we spend what we have on the ground right, we will cover a lot of gaps.

    “The money is no longer enough; we need your ideas and experiences. We are not in the business of wasting money anymore.”

    Underscoring the importance of partnerships, particularly with civil society organizations (CSOs), in driving health sector renewal, Aina reiterated government’s commitment to transparency, community engagement, and collaboration with the stakeholders to share progress and challenges.

    “Sometimes we are too busy just getting the work done because we are in a hurry for Nigerians to start to feel the impact of President Tinubu’s initiatives.

    “The path ahead is fraught with challenges, but coordinated action and smart spending could accelerate progress in reducing maternal mortality and improving overall healthcare outcomes,” he said.

  • Maternal and infant mortality in West Africa…. Beyond the numbers

    The pain of childbirth has been described as equivalent to 20 bones getting fractured at a time, a level slightly greater than the 45 del (a subjective measure of pain) limit of pain a human can endure. With this unique experience comes inexplicable joy and the pain is momentarily forgotten. But not in all cases. The curtains may fall on the mother or baby or both, and the long nine-month wait ends in anguish with a psychological pain that can never be quantified, not in words or numbers.

    Maternal and newborn mortality ratios, that is, the rates at which women or babies die from birth related complications in West Africa are among the highest in the world. UNICEF reports that the maternal and newborn mortality rates in the West and Central Africa region are 679 women per 100,000 live births and 31 babies per 1000 births, respectively. This is in sharp contrast to the global average of 216 women and 16 babies. In Nigeria, the statistics are even higher, at 814 women and 34.1 newborns respectively (UNICEF 2018 Report).In 2016, Nigeria accounted for 9% of newborn deaths globally, behind only India and Pakistan, according to UNICEF. The statistics for maternal mortality are worse; in 2015, 19% of women who died during child birth in the world were in Nigeria, with the country being regarded as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for childbirth (Joint Maternal Mortality Report by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, and the United Nations Population Division).

    About 80% of the major causes of newborn deaths- complications related to preterm birth and low-birth-weight, infections such as sepsis or pneumonia and asphyxia (lack of oxygen at birth) -are preventable. The same goes for maternal deaths, which are mostly caused by sepsis, obstetric haemorrhage or bleeding, unsafe abortion, obstructed labour and pre-eclampsia complications. In the presence of skilled medical personnel and with access to healthcare facilities during pregnancy and at the time of birth, these numbers will reduce significantly. Unfortunately, in most parts of West Africa, these essentials are available to a small percentage.

    In remote areas of the region, where majority of the births that make up these statistics occur, there are limited healthcare facilities and skilled birth attendants. Pregnant women in those areas complain about the cost of treatment, the distance of the health facility and attendant transportation costs, as well as, the unavailability of medical personnel and equipment during visits. Only slightly above one-third of births in the country are attended by doctors, nurses, or midwives; the rest takes place at home or in traditional birthing centres, where complications cannot be managed, leaving the statistics on newborn deaths uncaptured, in most cases.

    These newborns and women are not just statistics. There is value in every human life, but more so children. They add beauty to our world- their innocence, their hopes and dreams. They form the very foundation on which we build our society. They provide the fresh canvas on which we can repaint the future of our nation. In these neonatal mortality statistics, we could have lost the scientist who would invent a cure for cancer, the president we yearn for, and more; individuals with boundless potentials before their lives are cut short. Undoubtedly, maternal and newborn deaths affect all of us and we cannot begin to quantify their impact.

    This unacceptable situation is one of the many societal challenges that governments alone cannot effectively address. It is therefore encouraging that stakeholders at global and local levels, including many private sector players, are standing up to be counted in the fight against maternal and newborn deaths. Coca-Cola is fostering partnerships with some governments across the West Africa region to improve the status quo. The Safe Birth Initiative (SBI), its new community Wellbeing programme to support efforts by national governments to reduce the alarming numbers of women and newborns who die from birth related complications every day, is one more investment through which it is are determined to make a difference in communities and help make the SDGs a reality.

    This initiative is being piloted in Nigeria and Ivory Coast. In Nigeria, it is implemented as a strategic golden triangle partnership involving Coca-Cola, the government (the Federal Ministry of Health and the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals) and an NGO, Medshare International Inc. With a focus on promoting safe birth through strengthening the capacity of our hospitals, the Safe Birth Initiative will support the government in three key areas to help doctors and nurses in target public hospitals to minimize maternal and newborn deaths: providing vital maternal and neonatal medical equipment and supplies; training biomedical technicians/engineers to improve equipment maintenance and uptime; and reactivating abandoned medical equipment in hospitals which are wasting away at the expense of the precious lives of mother and babies for whom they were procured in the first place.

    Over the next two years, the Safe Birth Initiative will focus on 10 leading referral institutions comprising university teaching hospitals, federal medical centres and general hospitals across the country. Pregnancy gives life and should not take lives. We can all help to make this a reality in our communities, so that our mothers and babies come home alive.

     

    • Ugorji is a public policy analyst and Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability Director for Coca-Cola West Africa.

  • UNICEF demands govt interventions to end infant mortality, child marriage 

    The United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) at the weekend called for government’s interventions to tackle the problems of high infant mortality, underage marriage, children’s malnutrition and other child-related challenges in Bayelsa State.

    The UNICEF Chief of Field Services, Dr. Annefrida Kisesa-Mkusa, spoke in Yenagoa, during the policy dialogue with state executive and legislature on “Investment in maternal nutrition and infant and young child feeding”.

    Quoting recent data at the event organised by the Bayelsa State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in collaboration with UNICEF, Kisesa-Mkusa said the infant mortality in Bayelsa state was still very high.

    She said the date contained in the 2016/2017 report of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated that out of every 1,000 babies born, almost 100 die before the age of five years.

    She also said  over 10 per cent of female children in the state were married off before the age of 15.

    The UNICEF boss said: “Available evidence shows that getting the right nutrients at the right time is critical, particularly during the first 1,000 days of life starting from conception to the child’s second birthday.

    “Unfortunately, during the last decade, Bayelsa State has made little progress in improving the nutrition status of children and women as well as in other key child survival indicators.

    “Three in 10 women deliver their babies at home and are not delivering their babies with assistance of skilled personnel. Bayelsa State has stagnated at this rate since 2007.

    “One in five (18 per cent) of girls of between 15 and 19 years have begun child bearing. Three in 10 (29 per cent) babies born in Bayelsa State face the high risk of dying in their first month of life (27-28 days of birth).

    “Infant mortality (probability of dying between birth and the first birthday) reduced from 102/1,000 in 2011 to 57/1,000 in 2016/2017, but it is still unacceptably high.

    “Under 5 mortality in Bayelsa has been reduced from 178/1,000 to 95/1,000 live but this means that for every 1,000 babies born, almost 100 die before the age of five years. The average for the South-South region is 59. Bayelsa still carries the highest burden for this indicator.”

    Kisesa-Mkusa added that seven in every 10 children of between 12 and 23 months could not receive all the vaccinations recommended in the national schedule by second birthday including polio and measles.

    She noted that Bayelsa was the worst performing state in the region in terms of immunisation coverage, adding that from 16 per cent in 2007, coverage was at 23.3 per cent in 2011 and in 2016/2017 was at 28.5 per cent.

    Bayelsa State Commissioner for Health Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu said the government was desirous of ensuring food security in the state, but identified fragmentation in budget planning as a major problem.

    Etebu said the best his ministry could do was to intervene, which might not be enough,  as there is a need to tackle the problem from the grassroots.

    Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning Dr. Ebi Joshua said malnutrition in children was a global problem, especially in developing countries, noting that the state was doing its best to ameliorate the problem.

    The commissioner said: “The government believes in this fact and has set out to adopt as well as implement plans at its terminal focus in governance.

    “The government has consistently invested massively in the health sector which in turn calls for serious commitment from development partners especially the UNICEF.”

    He, however, commended UNICEF’s consistency in supporting the state government towards providing for the citizens.

     

  • RB reiterates partnership commitment to reduce child deaths from diarrhea

    RB reiterates partnership commitment to reduce child deaths from diarrhea

    RB reiterates partnership commitment to reduce child deaths from diarrhea[ad id=”456472″]One in every eight children born in Nigeria do not live to see their fifth birthday; with Lagos State being the second highest contributor to diarrhoea with a prevalence of 7.5% after Oyo State having 9.2%.
    This translates that 315,000 children under-five die needlessly from diarrhea annually, equivalent to 64 children every hour.
    In an ambitious drive to help end this, On 21 February 2016, RB held the RB/Save The Children charity ball for the ‘Stop Diarrhoea programmes’.
    RB/Save the Children initiative is a unique partnership and ground-breaking programme to help eradicate child deaths from diarrhea piloted in Shomolu Local Government Area of Lagos State.
    The partnership since 2013 has berth innovative new hygiene and sanitation products by RB alongside Save the Children’s sustainable Stop Diarrhea programme in Nigeria, aimed at preventing, controlling and treating the unnecessary killer.
    The combination of RB’s expertise in product development and research, and Save the Children’s experience of delivering life-saving work have helped save thousands of young lives a yearly.
    Funded by RB, inception phases involving the research and set up of large-scale, innovative programs to combat diarrhea in Nigeria and Pakistan are complete, and now in execution phase in a community in Lagos to fully implement the World Health Organisation and UNICEF 7-point plan to ensure comprehensive diarrhea control.
    RB and Save the Children have committed to working with national governments and other partners to implement the 7 Point Plan by developing unique products to improve hand washing and community sanitation.
    This is assured as RB’s expertise in product development and research, and Save the Children’s experience of delivering life-saving work will help save thousands of young lives every year.
    In order to achieve the partnership’s long-term ambition, to eliminate childhood deaths from diarrhoea, RB is creating a game-changing social enterprise scheme whereby all profits from the sale of two innovative products will be reinvested into the Stop Diarrhoea programmes and into continued product development.
    For the first time, RB will not be making a profit from these products and the revenue will be reinvested into The Stop Diarrhea Initiative (SDI) to combat mortality and morbidity amongst children under the age of 5years due to diarrhea in Nigeria –which is the sole aim of ‘Save the Children’ and RB .
    The Charity ball was an avenue to enable its stakeholders and partners appreciate the work that is being piloted in Lagos state, share milestone achievements and appreciate their support and commitment.

    RB (formerly called Reckitt Benckiser) is the world’s leading consumer health and hygiene company.

    The company has operations in over 60 countries, with headquarters in the UK, Singapore, Dubai and Amsterdam, and sales in almost 200 countries.

    Fuelled by a new breed of talent who blend intellectual curiosity with commitment to the highest quality standards, RB is set to redefine the world of consumer health and hygiene.

  • Why infant mortality of firms is high, by Aladekomo

    Retiring Group Managing Director, Chams Plc, Sir ‘Demola Aladekomo, has identified the refusal of businesses to list on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) as one of the reasons many of them die in infancy.

    Speaking with The Nation, he said most firms refuse to list on the NSE because they don’t want to open their books to members of the public.

    He said this development stalls the institutionalisation of corporate governance and inevitably leads to the early demise of businesses.

    He said: “One of the major advantages of listing is reporting your results. If you are not messing around with your books, if you do not have anything to hide, if you want to be very transparent,  if you want to be held on to your projections, your budgeting performance by the public, then you should list.

    “For us in Chams, we decided to be open, more because we do not have anything to hide. We believe that it is by exposing ourselves, by letting the whole world knows what we are doing that we can improve.

    “You would have seen it in our results. In 2010, 2011 and even 2012 when things are really tough and bad, we were declaring results that were like a disgrace to us, but faithfully every quarter, I think it was only in a period that we didn’t report for some three quarters, I think it was in 2010 and immediately we corrected that, we were reporting all our results and it really helped us,” he said.

    He said the independence of the Accounts Department ensures transparency, arguing that if there is no independence, some people will be messing up things. He said opening up the business for the public has helped the firm to achieve its enviable position.

    He said: “Because our accounts department is highly independent, exactly what you do is what you report, so nobody is messing around with any figure.

    “For us, being opened has really helped us. For one, our stakeholders can trust us knowing that we are not hiding any figure. It also makes corporate governance very easy for us. If we had been a private company during those periods of turbulence, if we didn’t publish our results, it would have been so easy, even the members of staff we won’t need to declare anything to them,” he said.

    He added that everybody would have been wondering what is happening, the results would just be may be between the managing director, the chairman, a couple of board members and the head of finance.

  • Infant mortality

    Infant mortality

    Despite the grim and glaring reality of human mortality, the latest figures on newborn deaths released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are alarmingly revealing and signify a call for urgent action to arrest the death rate. Findings of a survey of 51 countries with the highest burden of newborn deaths showed that as many as nearly three million newborn babies die worldwide every year. India tops the list in South Asia and globally with 779,000 newborn deaths per year, while Nigeria leads in sub-Saharan Africa with 267,000, which is certainly a thought-provoking and unwelcome record for the country.

    According to UNICEF, newborn deaths account for 44 percent of total mortality among children under five, and represent a larger percentage of under-five deaths than they did in 1990, which suggests a disturbing deterioration in the quality of care infants receive in various countries these days, particularly given the organisation’s detail that 2.9 million babies die within their first 28 days. Further information that an additional 2.6 million babies are stillborn and 1.2 million die because their hearts stop during labour is little comfort and does not redeem the sad situation of such a heavy loss of infant lives in today’s world, with all the advantages of highly developed health equipment, advanced scientific know-how and improved child health care knowledge.

    The grave picture is especially striking against the background of clear identification of the problem, which the organisation expressed in informed terms, saying, “The first 24 hours after birth are the most dangerous for both child and mother – almost half of maternal and newborn deaths occur then.”  Instructively, UNICEF’s head of global health programmes, Dr. Mickey Chopra, said, “We have seen tremendous progress in saving children under five, but where the world has stumbled is with the very youngest, most vulnerable children.” He added, “This group of children needs attention and resources. Focusing on the crucial period between labour and the first hours of life can exponentially increase the chances of survival for both mother and child.”

    Perhaps it is pertinent to point out that, related to the UNICEF release, Nigeria is ranked 2nd among the top 10 countries with the most first-day of life deaths, according to a 2013 State of the World’s Mothers Report. At least 89,700 (nine per cent) babies die on their first day of life every year in Nigeria, said the report which compared first-day death rates for 186 countries. In addition, Nigeria was 169th on the Mothers’ Index out of the 186 countries assessed in critical areas such as mother’s health, education and economic status, as well as key child indicators of health and nutrition.

    Of course, situation recognition will not suffice, and the UNICEF statement expectedly recommended solutions that hopefully will be practicalised in the interest of humanity in general. Notably, the identified most effective interventions in saving newborns include breastfeeding; newborn resuscitation; ‘kangaroo care’ for premature babies – that is, prolonged skin-to-skin contact with the mother; and preventing and treating infections.

    However, perhaps more critically, the organisation called for more funding and adequate equipment, which cannot reasonably be divorced from politics and governance; consequently, the political will and performance is essential. It is significant to note that UNICEF argued that if the quality of care received by the richest were to become universal, this would result in a phenomenal reduction in newborn deaths, specifically, 600,000 fewer deaths per year.

    It may be wishful thinking on the part of the organisation to imagine that the day would come when access to health care would be a function of egalitarianism. However, the underlying lesson of its argument should not be trivialised, which is that a more socially responsive health care system is a desideratum in many countries.

    Such advocacy cannot be truer for Nigeria in particular, especially considering the fact its oil wealth should ordinarily ensure a health care system that is vastly superior to the dysfunctional one which many Nigerians have sadly got used to, even if regretfully. It is a fact that the country’s public health sector continues to attract widespread criticism for lamentably poor services due largely to funding issues. Indeed, it is noteworthy that the country’s proposed N262.74 billion budget for the health sector in 2014 represented a 6.7 percent decrease compared with the 2013 allocation which was N273 billion.

    Not surprisingly, experts rubbished the proposal for this year mainly on account of the figure earmarked for recurrent expenditure, which was about 80 percent of the financial plan and meant that there would be little or no funds left for infrastructural development, expansion and upgrade of medical facilities, research and development, and human capital development, the very essentials needed to improve the infant survival rate.

    Regrettably, a major implication of the UNICEF release is the high possibility that the Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015 may prove to be a pipe dream. Perhaps even more unfortunate is the likelihood that Nigeria will count among the failures.