UNICEF raises alarm over increase in infant mortality in Northeast

The United Nations Children Fund is worried over the increase in the rate of infant deaths in Nigeria’s northeast region.

UNICEF is hoping that media practitioners and other social influencers can help change this trend.

The international body is also taking the message of the importance of the first one thousand days of a child’s life to primary health centres.

Statistics, data and field reports all paint a dark picture.

Too many children are still dying across the northeast region.

Because of insecurity, reliable data from Borno and Yobe States are not available but those from Adamawa, Bauchi, Taraba and Gombe States show that the region is not on track to achieve the United Nations SDG goals.

UNICEF is seeking collaboration and active involvement of social influencers to prompt change and reverse the downward trend.

It is also working at improving service delivery at primary health centres and ensuring that women have access and knowledge to scale the crucial first one thousand days.

The persistent death rate of women during childbirth and children under the age of two years keeps health specialists up at night.