‘Low maternal, child care triggers 33,000 deaths annually’
Low participation of pregnant women in maternal and child care services has been identified as the major cause of maternal deaths with 33,000 women dying annually in Nigeria, especially in the rural areas.
This was the summary of a stakeholders’ meeting on advocacy for SURE-P maternal child projects in the North Central zone held in Abuja yesterday. The meeting identified that 36 percent of women do not receive ante natal care, resulting in maternal deaths every year in Nigeria, the second largest maternal death rate after India.
Consultant for the advocacy, Alhaji Yusuf Adamu, Executive Director Maiyarwuya Nig. Ltd., in a presentation at the meeting, identified that 946,000 children under five die every year mainly from complications of low birth weight, inability to breathe after birth, infections and other diseases on the first day or the first week of life.
Also, in his presentation, Dr. John Adegbite, said some of the problems causing maternal child deaths include lack of education for the girl child, poverty, demographic pressures, high cost of medication and insufficient investment in public health care.
The support needed at all levels of government, the stakeholders said, include sustained funding, implementation of appropriate laws, training and retention of health care providers in collaboration with all stakeholders.