The Paediatrics Association of Nigeria on Tuesday pledged to support efforts of government and other stakeholders to drastically reduce the high rate of death among children in Nigeria, put at one million annually.
 

President of the Association, Dr Ngozi Ibeziaku, made the pledge at a press conference in Kaduna to herald the commencement of the association’s 48th Annual Conference.
 
She said the focus of the conference would be on child health and evolving strategies to encourage mothers and other stakeholders access health services to ensure the survival of the Nigerian child.
 
“Children can’t speak for themselves, so we are their voices”, she said, adding that the association would also support policies and programmes to tackle high child death in the country.
 
She stressed that most of the deaths were preventable, and could be tackled through exclusive breast feeding, accessing antenatal care, vaccination against killer diseases, environmental cleanliness, use of treated mosquito nets, and hand washing.
 
Ibeziaku added that the association would continue its advocacy for the provision of safe drinking water, protecting children against child labour, drug abuse and patronage of health facilities for medication.
 
She noted that Nigeria’s indices on child death was alarming, and every Nigerian needed to contribute towards safe motherhood and the upbringing of children.
 
Read more at http://punchng.com/one-million-nigerian-children-die-preventable-disease...