Experts react to Nigeria’s high maternal mortality rate

Medical experts have described as worrisome the recent figure released by international agencies which put Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate at 58,000 in 2015.

This makes Nigeria the country with the second highest maternal death rate in the world.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a joint report by the World Health Organisation, WHO, United Nation Population Fund, UNFPA, and the United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, published the statistics.

The report was, however, presented by Olusola Odujinrin at the 2017 Annual Faculty Day Lecture by the Faculty of Public Health and Community Medicine, National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria.

The conference with the theme, “Transition in Global Health Paradigms: What Hope for Nigerian Women and Children?’’ was held at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja.

In an interview with NAN, the guest lecturer, Mr. Odujinrin, a community health expert, said Nigeria had not done well in the provision and maintenance of Primary Health Facilities, PHF.

“Our country is off the track in meeting all Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We are on the back row because we lack healthcare infrastructure which necessitated the high mortality rate.

“Our first goal is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger according to the World Bank’s projection for sub-Saharan Africa has not been met. Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo has fared badly.

“At present, the report that says Nigeria contributes about 15 per cent of the annual global death, this is alarming and we must act fast on it because it is no favourable.

“Albeit scary as the report may, however, seem to be, we can still address these challenges if we have the political will to do just that,’’ she said.

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