The concern on rising child mortality

Reports indicating that Nigeria loses 100 out of every 1000 children in the country, before they attain the age of five, is despairing, particularly because it shows the country as being among those in the lower rung of healthcare delivery globally. This is unfortunate given the huge natural resources and potentials of the country. Countries with much lesser pedigree in terms of wealth potential are doing much better in the care of their young ones. Indeed, the signal being portrayed is that Nigeria cares less about her children who incidentally are the face of the country’s future. In other words, can the country realistically count on her children to improve the lot of the country, when the lot of the children is currently jeopardized?

Across the world rapid progress has resulted in a significant decline in preventable underage children deaths since 1990, with under-five mortality rate declining by over half between 1990 and 2016. However, despite this progress, there are still 15,000 under-five deaths per day from largely preventable causes and about 80 per cent of these occur in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Understandably, a number of factors are responsible for this ugly state of affairs. Yet, it is not only alarming but shameful that Nigeria continues to record worst cases of child mortality at a time the global mortality rate of children is drastically reducing.

According to a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)’s report, issued the other day, as the world celebrated International Children’s Day, over 100 out of 1000 children in the country die before their fifth birthday.  This is an embarrassment that should not happen to a country like Nigeria; and the data say a lot about the country’s seriousness regarding care of her citizens. Certainly, the phenomenon does not send a good signal about the nation. However, the circumstances relating to the problem reveals that among other things, the country’s primary healthcare facilities are grossly inadequate and restrict many pregnant women access to good ante-natal care, causing them to seek unorthodox, sometimes harmful traditional healthcare.

Factors that drive child mortality in the country according to Egbe Abe, the UNICEF field officer in Port Harcourt, who spoke at the event, include under-nutrition, poor breastfeeding practices and poor immunisation coverage. The event in which the report was released had the theme: “Dissemination of multiple indicator cluster survey, MICS, 2021,” a household survey developed by UNICEF to assist countries in filling data for monitoring human development indicators particularly the situation of children and women. It highlights areas of poor habits or lack of proper care that put substantial number of children at risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, diarrhea, malaria, congenital anomalies and pneumonia among others.

It is regrettable that the response of government at the state and federal levels suggests that the issue is being given a cold attention.  What this means, as Egbe explained, is simply that  if you get to the street, out of the 10 children you meet, one of them will die before the age of five. No doubt, these deaths at such a tender age occasion anguish and deep pain in mothers and family members, more so because they were avoidable. It should be enough reason for stakeholders and government to be worried and not given to abandoning their responsibilities. Too many people have died because of poor facilities in hospitals; and even President Muhammadu Buhari has shown he has no confidence in Nigeria’s healthcare facilities by trotting on medical trips for facilities in the United Kingdom for the slightest ailment.

It is saddening that the nation’s healthcare system does not seem to have any answers to the crisis of child mortality. Available data shows that maternal mortality in Nigeria is above 800 per 100,000 live births. In 2013, the rate in Nigeria was 560 deaths per 100,000 live births; whereas in 1980, it was 516 deaths to 100,000 per live births. This trend suggests that more children may die before their fifth birthday and all because of poor health facilities or lack of access to quality healthcare in the country. More disappointing is that governments at all levels seem to care less towards addressing the issue frontally.

Aside the child mortality problems, UNICEF also warned against all forms of discriminations against children. This is because systemic racism and discrimination put children at risk of deprivation and exclusion that can last a lifetime and hamper their progress educationally and otherwise. Of Nigeria’s 18.3 million out-of-school children and a high number of those attending school but not getting a solid education that can translate into good prospects for their future, discrimination could be fingered. Discrimination and exclusion deepen intergenerational deprivation and poverty that leads to poorer health and poorer nutrition among others for children.

It is not only logical but appropriate as well that the issue of child mortality in Nigeria should attract more awareness in communities. Nigerians of all classes should know about the importance of good health, healthy lifestyle as well as people’s right to quality healthcare services especially for the most vulnerable such as women and children.

It behoves on policy makers at all levels of government to generate such abiding interest to ensure improved living standards to achieve good life expectation. Every child has the right to be protected and have an equal chance to reach his/her full potential. More importantly, government, while providing an environment conducive for a good healthcare system, should also fulfill its constitutional and moral duty to bequeath reasonable security and welfare for all citizens, especially vulnerable children who represent the future of the country.