NPC decries under-5 mortality in Nigeria

By Adekola Afolabi
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The National Population Commission (NPC) said under-5 mortality in Nigeria is very high with an average of 132 deaths per 1000 births.

 Acting Chairman of the Commission, ‘Bimbola Salu-Hundeyin, revealed this in Akure, the Ondo state capital, while briefing journalists on the commencement of data collection for 2019 Verbal and Social Autopsy (VASA)  Survey in all the 36 states of the federation and the FCT Abuja.

 The VASA survey according to NPC chairman is a research study that seeks to obtain data to determine the causes and contributory factors to deaths in children aged 0-5.

The Acting Chairman who was represented by the Ondo state Director of the Commission, Oluyemi Falusi, disclosed that the regional spread of the occurrence of deaths as shown by the 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) indicated that 2, 601 representing 80 percent of the total deaths were in the Northern part of the country, while 614 representing 20 percent occurred in the South.

He noted that the 2019 VASA survey which has started on October 19 and would end on December 18 across the country, was to assist policy makers and other stakeholders with reliable data to plan and formulate policies and implement programmes that would go a long way in reducing neonatal and child mortality to the barest minimum in Nigeria.

Salu-Hundeyin said 27 cases of under-5 deaths in Ondo state would be covered by the survey.

 He asserted that in Nigeria, the most common causes of neonatal deaths including preterm birth (early birth), birth asphyxia (a child not breathing or crying at birth) are severe infections such as septicemia, pneumonia and meningitis,  tetanus and malformations,

Others include religious beliefs, socio-cultural practices, age and education of mother, socio-economic status of household, illness recognition, quality of care and health system factors.

According to him, the objectives of the survey include the provision of up-to-date information on early childhood mortality rate, estimation of the prevalence, determination of cultural /behavioural/social and health system factors of neonatal (death of a live-born infant within the first 28 days of life), infant and under-five mortality using the 2018 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) households.

The Acting Chairman insisted that every available tool must be deployed to combat and curb the menace in the society, hence the need to generate reliable data on the causes and determinants of neonatal, infant and child mortality in Nigeria.

 He noted that based on the reported cases of under-5 deaths per state, 15 teams made up of 4-6 individuals were selected to move round the country for the data collection exercise that began on October 19 and will last till December 18.

 He called for necessary support from government officials at all levels, security agencies, traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, the press and other stakeholders to ensure the success of the exercise.

He added that the 2019 edition of the VASA survey is the second in the series conducted by the National Population Commission, having conducted the first survey in Nigeria in 2014.