About 2,300 children under the age of five pass away every day in Nigeria from preventable diseases, according to Prof. Joseph Ngbea, the Benue State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, who made this statement on Tuesday.
The commissioner also stated that every day, 145 women who are of childbearing age pass away in the nation from preventable illnesses.
Ngbea presented these figures as she officially opened Makurdi’s Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Week.
He expressed regret that “Nigeria has one of the highest death rates in the world among young children and women of childbearing age, and the trend is not improving satisfactorily.”
According to Ngbea, who cited the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, “These deaths are frequently avoidable with comparatively simple measures. According to NDHS estimates from 2018, Nigeria accounts for 2% of the world’s population but 14% of the burden of maternal mortality.
“One in eight Nigerian children passes away before turning 15 years old. Nigeria is home to almost 10% of newborn deaths.
About 2,300 children under the age of five and 145 women who are childbearing age die in Nigeria every day. An estimated 10% of these deaths could frequently be avoided with relatively easy steps.
The MNCHW was established annually, according to Ngbea, “to deliver an integrated package of highly cost-effective, yet result-oriented promotive, preventive, and curative services.
“These services are provided to improve standard medical facilities services. The mechanism is employed to group together services with an immediate impact.
In her own words, Mrs. Ashi Wende, executive secretary of the state Primary Health Care Board, described the two-week biannual event as “a strategy to deliver a free package of high impact and cost-effective interventions.”
“These interventions are crucial to enhancing the health of pregnant women and children under the age of five in Nigeria,” she declared. Its primary goal is to provide a set of fundamental services that have been shown to significantly lower mortality and morbidity rates for mothers and their young offspring.
