An interactive policy meeting on maternal, newborn and child health in Nigeria has ended with an emphasis on the need to transform healthcare in order to improve access and affordability of services.
This will be done to improve the health outcomes of maternal and child health which in turn will reduce maternal and child mortality.
Nigeria ranks as the world’s second largest contributor to under-five mortality and maternal mortality ratio.
While significant gains have been made in other developing countries in the past few decades, the situation of maternal and child health outcomes remain at the lowest levels in Nigeria.
For every woman who dies from maternal causes, at least six newborns die, and four are stillborn. In Nigeria, about 5.9 million kids are born each year, with over one million dying before the age of five.
What is crucial in these debates is lowering maternal fatalities and improving newborn survival by addressing the factors that influence outcomes such as poor prenatal care attendance, home deliveries, and cultural obstacles.
According to experts at the meeting, the majority of these maternal and neonatal deaths or illnesses are preventable or treatable, owing to proven, cost-effective preventative strategies and early treatment at the household, community, and primary care levels.
