Expectant mothers have been urged to always ask for sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) as intermittent preventive drug against malaria during pregnancy. They should also register at a health facility for their ante-natal once they are confirmed pregnant.
It is often said that ‘pregnancy is not a disease’, but this maxim doesn’t chime with the reality in Nigeria. While pregnancy in itself may not be a disease in Nigeria, the health system that should take care of our expectant mothers is afflicted with a chronic, debilitating disease. Yes, a lethal pestilence that has been killing expectant mothers with stealth, stubborn consistency and in staggering numbers.
The European Union (EU) will spend 54 million Euros to strengthen and promote primary healthcare, maternal and child health and newborn babies and reduce deaths associated with maternal and child health in Bauchi, Adamawa, and Kebbi States.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Press Secretary to the Governor of Bauchi State, Malam Abubakar Al-Sadique.
Nigeria is ranked 7th among 57 countries classified as facing a critical shortage of health workers, it was learnt Tuesday
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According to the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole the country has a shortage of 144,000 health workers. Nigeria is ranked second in Africa behind Ethiopia with 152,000.
Presently, the country boasts of 240,000 nurses and midwives and by 2030 the country will be needing 149,852 doctors and 471,353 nurses and midwives.
Nigeria’s health sector will, in the next few weeks, run into massive chain of crises, if the federal government fail to rise to the challenge.
This is following the withdrawal of support to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently announced by the US President, Donald Trump.
The Executive Director, Association for Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP), Dr Ejike Orji, disclosed this in an interview with The AUTHORITY, in Abuja.
The Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), has disclosed that Kaduna State has the second highest rate of childhood death from Diarrhoea and Pneumonia related diseases.
The group stated this during a media dialogue with traditional rulers, religious leaders and faith based organizations held in Kaduna.
The Head of FOMWAN/PACFaH Project, Hajiya Farida Sada Yusuf said the diarrhoea rate in the state is 16 percent while pneumonia is 13 percent for children under 5 years.
Despite the worrisome high degree of maternal mortality in Nigeria, Dr. Danjuma Nehemiah has affirmed that the nation still give birth to a nation annually.
Dr. Danjuma, who is a Health Specialist, Sokoto UNICEF Field Office added that, no fewer than 7.5 million births is been recorded annually in Nigeria.
Some doctors in Nigeria use candlelight to perform operations due to the dearth of funding for the sector, a medical practitioner told a Senate panel during a public hearing on the 2017 budget yesterday.
Benjamin Anyele, chairman, Health Sector Reform Coalition, said this when he delivered a keynote address to the surprised lawmakers.
“It has gotten so bad that Nigerians are running mental without knowing, nurses use candlelight to assist in carrying out operations,” Anyele told the lawmakers.
After losing her fourth child during delivery at the house of her regular traditional birth attendant (TBA), 42 year–old Kemi Ariyo contracted spiritualists to get to the root of her problems. “I was widely accused to be a witch as a result of the demise of my babies,” Kemi said. “So I approached the spiritualists who pray for pregnant women and see to the delivery of their babies”.
Recent survey by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicates that malnutrition accounts for the death of 2,300 Nigerian children daily.
It also notes that more than 2.5 million children under the age of five are suffering from severe acute malnutrition and are likely to die if adequate funding is not provided to treat them.
