Fresh evidence indicate up to 85,700 Nigerian children die each year from complications because they are born too soon.
 
Child health organistions, including MamaYe and the Association for Reproductive and Family Health (ARFH) which highlighted the figures to mark World Prematurity Day in Abuja, said the complications from being born before 37 weeks of pregnancy were “leading causes of death among newborn babies.”
 
“That many deaths of children-that’s a lot, that’s a lot of deaths,” said Dr. Oladipo Ladapo, president of ARFH.
 

The Reproductive Health/Family Planning Programme Manager, Pathfinder International, Dr. Habeeb Salami, has said Nigeria has a deficit of about 248,572 doctors.
 
He said this was contrary to the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of one doctor to 600 patients, adding that available record showed that in Nigeria, it is one doctor to 3,500 patients, which suggests that Nigeria currently has about 51,428 doctors.
 

The Financial Times of London has once again endorsed the award-winning Kwara Community Health Insurance Scheme for its transformational impact on the people of the State, particularly the rural dwellers.

In an article titled: “The Innovators: devices and services to improve maternal and child health” published on its website on Thursday, the Financial Times listed the Kwara State Community Health Insurance among few projects with the potential to ease the burden of maternal and child mortality around the world.

By Segun Adebowale
The US Consul General, John Bray, says the US will continue to support, encourage and expand its Saving Mothers, Giving Life initiative aimed at reducing maternal and neonatal mortality in Nigeria.
 
A statement by the information unit of the US Embassy on Monday in Abuja quoted Bray as saying this at the SMGL global team-building meeting in Calabar, Cross River State.
 
The meeting was organised by the Cross River State Government in partnership with United States Agency for International Development.