Infant mortality: FG partners pharmaceutical industries to produce stopper drugs

The Federal Government is partnering with some pharmaceutical companies to produce three life saving commodities (drugs) for new born babies, an official has said.

Dr Sylvanus Welle, Senior Medical Officer, Department of Family Health, Federal Ministry of Health, disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting on life-saving neonatal commodities in Port Harcourt on Friday.

Welle described neonatal as the commonest killer of new born babies in the country.

He listed the companies to include Drug field, Emzor and Tuyield, adding that this would reduce cost and prices.
He said the commonest killers of babies include preterm birth (30 per cent); birth asphyxia (28 per cent) infections (22 per cent).

According to him, the killers had stopped some babies from living up to five years of age and trace the death to ignorance of their mothers.

However, Welle did not give the statistics of the child mortality rate, but said the commodities were available in health centres for use on new born babies to save their lives.

He said the federal government had reviewed the National Essential Medicine list and standard treatment guidelines, and advised mothers to use the drugs accordingly.

He said there was need for governments to train and retrain health workers for effective and efficient service delivery in the industry.

“Lack of adequate fund, workers, quality control and monitoring, among others, can be a setback to the programme,’’ he said.

He said that the stakeholders meeting would be held throughout the 36 states of the federation and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Dr Chinyere Nnanna, Director of Public Health, Rivers State Ministry of Health, said healthcare was a collective issue, adding that government alone could not do it.

He lamented that some people were still using traditional method and medicines to treat new born babies.

The director expressed optimism that new born babies would not die again due to the live –saving commodities.