Women’s health indicators for Nigeria rank among the worst in the world. Nearly 30% of its women aged 15-19 year are or have been married and more than a fifth of the women begin child-bearing in their teens. The maternal mortality ratio stands at 545 deaths per 100 000 live births nationwide but nearly double that ratio (1026) in the North-West region.
He said that each year of education of the adolescent girl delivers an additional 11.7 percent increase in wages in later life for girls compared with 9.6 percent for men. Yet, 16 million girls between ages 6 and 11 will not start school twice the number of boys, he stated.
Osotimehin added, ”An educated mother is more likely to access sexual and reproductive health services including family planning as means of prevention of the detrimental consequences of early pregnancies such as fistula.
An online portal, myfptori.com is helping young people tell their stories about contraception, family planning, sexual and reproductive health.
The portal started with a $5,000 seed grant to ambassadors of contraception to collect and share digital stories about young people’s sexual and reproductive health and rights in their home countries.
In a bid to reduce the burden of trial consultations in our tertiary/specialist health facilities, the Federal Government says it is committed to partner the West Africa College of Surgeons (WACS) on all fronts to deliver quality health to Nigerians.
Isaac Adewole, minister of health, said this at the commissioning of the WACS permanent secretariat, last week in Lagos.
The Edo state government received federal government’s $1.5 million “Save a Million lives” intervention fund to the state.
Governor Godwin Obaseki the commended the federal government for releasing the money when he hosted the Minister of State for Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, at Government House in Benin on Saturday.
He said the fund, geared toward improving maternal and child health, would be judiciously used in the state.
For Africa, the road to prosperity must begin with investment in its most precious resource. Not its minerals, oil reserves or plantations, but something even more critical to Africa’s future: the health of its children. I don’t mean this figuratively; an investment in children’s health is precisely that. Compelling evidence now suggests that every dollar, shilling, pound or rand spent on preventing disease does not just reduce needless human suffering, but it also makes sound economic sense too.
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.
The Niger Child Right Protection Agency has warned parents against forcing their children into early marriages due to the bad consequences associated with such practice.
Hajiya Mairam Kolo, its Director-General, gave the warning on Wednesday in Minna, while distributing relief materials to victims of communal clashes in Lamba village of Paiko Local government area of the state.
She defined early or child marriage as any marriage involving a child that is less than 18 years old.
Much as efforts are been geared towards a healthier society for all, UNICEF in a handbook extracted from Faith For Life have decried that, Nigeria still have one of the highest number of newborn deaths in Africa.
Making the presentation yesterday in a 2 day workshop on Media Engagement On Dissemination of “Facts For Life” messages, UNICEF resource person, Mrs Tamani Yusuf added that, if Nigeria is desirous of meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), then more attention should be given to newborns.
The attitude of some husbands in Bauchi state constituted a threat to the well-being of their pregnant wives more than other challenges, the Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (BSPHCDA), Mr Adamu Gamawa said on Tuesday.
Briefing newsmen in Bauchi on the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW), Gamawa said such husbands had prevented their pregnant wives from attending antenatal clinics (ANC).
