Maternal Mortality: FG moves to reduce 512 deaths per 100,000 births

The Federal  Government on Tuesday said the maternal mortality rate of 512 deaths per 100,000 births will be reduced very drastically within the next one year.

The government also declared that neonatal mortality, which at present stands at 39 deaths per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality rate of 132 deaths per 1,000 live births,  will be tackled in the coming months through improved quality healthcare delivery system.

Addressing newsmen on the government interventions after defending the 2021 budget estimates for SDGs before the Senate Committee on Sustainable Development Goals,  the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on SDGs, Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, said required measures were being put in place.

She specifically declared that the SGDs office has already responded to the challenges with the construction of Mother and Child Centres and strategic partnerships across the country with the aim of promoting the health of the mothers and children, reducing maternal and child mortality and improving Nigeria’s health indices.

Orelope-Adefulire said: “A very significant step towards tackling the problems associated with infants, neonatal and maternal care was taken recently with the commissioning of a fully equipped, state of the art 100-Bed Mother and Child Care Hospital in Ifon Community, Ose Local Government Area of Lagos State.

“The facilities are equipped to stop maternal, child deaths.

“The facilities are strategic interventions directly linked to the achievement of SDG-3 on ‘Quality Health and Well-being for all’ and other cross-cutting SDGs.

“These Mother and Child Centres aim to address the high prevalence of maternal and child mortalities in Nigeria in line with the mandate of OSSAP-SDGs to implement or support policies and programmes aimed at fast-tracking the achievement of the SDGs in Nigeria.

“An example of this is the 100-Bed Mother and Child Centre we are commissioning today – built and donated to the Ondo State Government by the OSSAP-SDGs.

“It is therefore imperative that the State Government owns these strategic interventions and ensure their sustainability for the benefit of our people.

“As we continue to work together to achieve the transformative promise to ‘Leave no one behind’, I would like to call on corporate organisations, philanthropists and Foundations to continue to partner the government for this type of initiatives as part of their Corporate Social Responsibilities.

“We will continue to prioritise programmes and interventions with potential large-scale impact for achieving the SDGs in Nigeria.”