The high child mortality rate

The alarm raised recently by the Paediatrics Association of Nigeria (PAN) that 90 percent of child deaths in the country is preventable is indeed worrisome. The paediatricians had, at a press conference in Lagos to herald their 39th annual scientific conference, said that poor routine immunization, under-nutrition and ignorance are responsible for the unacceptable high child death rate.
PAN’s position has been buttressed by the new United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report on global child health. According to the report, the sub-Saharan Africa is at the bottom of the child survival table. It revealed that poverty and war are harming advances in infant mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

Globally, 62 countries were reported to be making no or insufficient progress towards a key 2015 child mortality target. In all indices, whether global or continental, Nigeria does not fare better.
Recent statistics from the Federal Ministry of Health showed that 194 children per 1,000 live births in the country do not survive and 1,000 pregnant women out of 100,000 die in circumstances surrounding child birth.

The President of PAN, Prof. William Nuhu Ogala, underscored the gravity of the problem when he said that the bulk of the problem was caused by ignorance and poverty. Under-nutrition is said to be the major cause contributing about 60 percent of all child deaths in Nigeria.
About 33 percent of Nigeria’s children are said to be moderately mal- nourished with the rural areas recording a higher figure than urban areas. As a result of malnutrition, this group of children is adjudged short or stunted for their age.

According to Ogala, “almost every death of a child in this country has something to do with nutrition and that underscores the level of poverty in this country,”

We bemoan this unacceptable high rate of child mortality in Nigeria given the abundant human and material resources available for us to confront any of our health problems. It is a matter of regret that many years after the late Health Minister, Prof. Olikoye Ransome-Kuti, launched the nation into the orbit of countries with best practices in Primary Health Care (PHC), the country is caught in this unexplainable rate of child deaths.

Having identified the causes of these deaths, we think that the best way to deal with the problem is to eliminate the causes. And since there is an inseparable link between poverty and malnutrition, we suggest that the government should step up the pace of tackling mass poverty, which drives the health problem. People should differentiate between belief and medicine and seek medical solutions to their health problems before they degenerate to worsening or critical stage. A situation where Nigerian children die of preventable deaths is unacceptable. Vaccines for routine immunization are available in all council areas in the country.

Parents should ensure that their wards access these facilities.
In cases of water borne diseases, we implore the government to provide potable water to all Nigerians. There is need to reduce the number of births a woman can give to reduce this incidence.
The health authorities should go back to the drawing board and resuscitate the PHC as enunciated by Ransome-Kuti. Fortunately, the Health Minister, Prof. Adenike Grange, is no stranger to PHC. She knows what to do to reduce that tally of child and maternal deaths to a bearable level. We urge her to do that fast as time is of essence in the war against child and maternal deaths.

The president and governments at state and local government levels should wade into the problem and reverse the trend.