Infant Mortality: Nigeria Has One of The Highest Rate In Africa – UNICEF

Nigeria is one of the countries in Africa with highest number of newborn deaths, official said.

This was made known by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in its presentation during a two day workshop on Media Engagement On Dissemination of “Facts For Life” messages, on Wednesday.

In her presentation, UNICEF resource person, Mrs. Tamani Yusuf said, “Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of newborn deaths in Africa, with a neonatal mortality rate of 37 per 1, 000 live births and approximately 250, 000 deaths occurring every year.”

According to her, one in every 15 babies born in Nigeria will die before their first birthday and about one in eight before their fifth birthday”.

She explained that, if Nigeria is desirous of meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), then more attention should be given to newborns; as over 80 percent of the under five deaths are from preventable causes. She further stressed that, expectant and nursing mothers as well as caregivers should be encouraged to embrace correct practices that could guarantee sound health.

Some of the factors responsible for the deterioration of child health as quoted from the “Fact for Life” messages, Tamani said they include; “Malnutrition, a high incidence of diseases, inappropriate household caring practices, poor environmental/living conditions and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.”

Amongst the right practices to be promoted to guarantee health for newborn babies, are exclusive breastfeeding, provision of quality health care and good nutrition, she added.

145 Child Soldiers Released In South Sudan – UN

The UN children’s Agency UNICEF said on Wednesday it had negotiated the release of 145 child soldiers from two rebel groups in South Sudan.

UNICEF head in South Sudan Mahimbo Mdoe, in a statement expressed optimism that this release will be followed by many others.

According to UNICEF estimation, around 16 000 children are currently fighting or working as porters with armed groups in South Sudan and including the national army. It says that more than 800 have been recruited this year alone.

The 145 released this week came from a group called the Cobra Faction and from the main SPLA/IO rebel faction, both in the eastern Pibor region of the country. In 2015, armed groups in the same area released a total of 1 775 children.

Freed children are disarmed, given civilian clothes and drafted into a reintegration programme. They receive counseling and efforts are made to trace their families.

“Children in South Sudan need safety, protection and opportunities,” Mdoe said.

“With the ongoing fighting across the country, UNICEF continues to receive reports about the recruitment of children. We urge all parties to abide by international law, to end recruitment and to release children who are currently serving in their ranks.”

South Sudan fell back into civil war in December 2013, with fighting continuing despite international efforts to force a peace deal on the warring parties.

Nigeria Risks Raising Adults with Low Intelligence – UNICEF

Kaduna (Nigeria) – The Nutrition Specialist, United Nations Children’s Fund, Mrs. Ada Ezeogu, has said that more Nigerian children may grow up to become adults with low mental capacity because of malnutrition.

Ezeogu stated this on the sidelines of a media dialogue on how to stop child malnutrition in the country.

Quoting a National Health Demographic Survey, Ezeogu also said that the number of stunted children occasioned by inadequate diet and micronutrients deficiency was high even in some states in the South-West.

Such children, she said, might grow up to become adults with low mental capacity if nothing was done to arrest the situation.

According to her, unpaid salaries and hike in prices of foodstuff are also contributing to the malnutrition problem facing Nigerian children.

She said this was the reason UNICEF was promoting exclusive breast-feeding for six months.

Exclusively breastfed babies, she added, had lower chances of developing chronic health conditions such as diabetes, asthma and childhood leukaemia in the future.

She said, “Breastfed infants do better in intelligence and behaviour test than formula fed babies. There are many Nigerian children with stunted growth and this affects their mental capacity even when they become adults.

“Every child should be exclusively breastfed for the first six months.  Breast feeding lowers the risk of chronic conditions, such as obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, child-hood asthma and leukaemia.”

Ezeogu explained that breast feeding babies for the first six months would boost their mental capacity as well as make them to become adults with great intellect.

She also warned mothers against mixing breast feeding with infant formula, saying this was dangerous to babies.

Ezeogu, who said that 50 per cent of infant deaths in the country were caused by malnutrition, added that this could be reduced drastically with adequate nutrition.

Source: Punch

Nigeria: 600,000 Children In Jigawa Are Malnourished – UNICEF

Dutse (Nigeria) – The United Nations International Children Fund (UNICEF) on Monday stated that no fewer than 600,000 out of 1.1 million children below the age of five in Jigawa State, North-west Nigeria are malnourished.

The organization’s Chief Nutritionist in Nigeria, Arjan de-WAGT, made the disclosure when he led other partners on “Improving Nutrition in Northern Nigeria” on a courtesy visit to Governor Muhammad Badaru in Dutse.

De-WAGT said 165,000 children between the ages of five to 59 months were severely malnourished.

He warned that if not catered for, an estimated 32,000 of the number were likely to die this year.

He said: “In our latest statistics, Jigawa has the highest number of malnourished children in the country, which means half of its children are affected.

“One hundred and two thousand children from zero to six months do not get exclusive breast feeding.

“Breast feeding is the most effective intervention to prevent malnutrition and save lives.”

The chief nutritionist also said 650,000 children from six months to five years did not receive Vitamin A supplement.

According to him, 117,000 of the 265,000 pregnant women in the state do not also take iron supplement during pregnancy to prevent anaemia.

He stressed the need for the federal and state governments to put in place “nutrition coordination and planning mechanism” as intervention measure to curb malnutrition and save lives.

De-WAGT said UNICEF had in the last five years been working in 15 out of the 27 local government areas of the state to improve the nutrition status of children and mothers.

He said the work was being undertaken by UNICEF in collaboration with other partners such as the Save the Children and Action against Hunger.

He said over 40,000 children’s’ lives were saved in the state through treatment and various interventions undertaken by UNICEF and its partners.

In his response, Badaru, who described the situation as “worrisome and pathetic”, promised to take drastic measures to reverse the trend.

He said his government had commenced reforms in the health sector to improve the health conditions of the people.

He said: “We are aware of the dangers and my government will take all the necessary steps to reverse the situation.

“This is of great concern to me because there cannot be any growth or development in the state without healthy people.

“I shall expend all necessary political will to tackle the problem.”

The governor pledged to set up a technical committee to look into the statistics and find immediate solutions to the problem.

Source: The Eagleonline

UNICEF Solicit Funding To Support Malnourish Children in Sudan

Khartoum – The international community and governments have been urged to contribute more funding so as to tackle the issue of malnutrition faced by children under the age of five years in Sudan.

UNICEF representative in Sudan, Geert Cappelaere on Sunday said about two million children suffer malnutrition, of which nearly 550 000 children have acute malnutrition, with many of those affected living in the underdeveloped east and conflict-hit Darfur region.

Cappelaere said, “billions, not millions of dollars (euros) are needed to reduce child malnutrition levels.

“We need to continue encouraging the government to invest more in malnutrition, but at the same time it will have to be a collective responsibility, the international community will have to step up if it is serious in its commitment to help the Sudanese people.”

He added that, “Over 38% of children under the age of five are chronically malnourished across Sudan. The number of children under five affected by chronic malnutrition works out at around two million, this figure includes 550 000 with severe acute malnutrition.”

The worst affected areas are Red Sea State in eastern Sudan and North Darfur State in the west.

Report by UN reveals that ethnic insurgents have been battling the Arab-dominated Khartoum government in the western Darfur region since 2003, displacing millions and leaving about 300 000 people dead.

Eastern Sudan has suffered from severe underdevelopment and is one of the country’s poorest regions.

Every year, UNICEF in Sudan treats about 150 000 of the most severely malnourished children.

UNICEF And Other Partners Launches Project To Improve Maternal And Child Health Care In Kenya

UNICEF, The Philips Foundation and other partners have launched the Maternal and Newborn Health Innovations Project, to help save lives and improve the health of pregnant women and children in Kenya.

The collaboration was in line with the Kenyan Government commitment to investing in innovative, home-grown solutions for maternal and newborn health care in reducing the number of deaths of pregnant women and newborn babies.

The partnership intends to facilitate the development of innovative health technology and solutions in the field of maternal, newborn and child health under the Kenyan Government guidance and the project’s steering Committee of its Ministry of Health.

Maternal and child mortality rates is still high in Kenya, as it is unable to meet up with the Millennium Development Goal 4 target of 33 by the end of 2015; having recorded a reduction of under-five child deaths per 1,000 lives from 90 in 2003 to 52 in 2014; Neonatal mortality is also too high at 22 deaths per 1,000 live births.

UNICEF Director, UNICEF Global Innovation Centre, Sharad Sapra, pointed out that, a major cause of these deaths is the lack of medical equipment and technology to support even the most basic interventions for pregnant women and their newborns, especially in remote areas where health care workers lack essential medical resources.

It is hoped that by 2018, the partnership would develop and scale up innovative, low-cost and locally designed health care devices which will contribute to improved and more equitable access to life-saving quality care for this vulnerable group across the country.

“For 1 million babies worldwide every year, their day of birth is also their day of death; But with strengthened health systems and innovative solutions for both mothers and children, the chance for survival is greatly increased,” Sapra pointed out.

The Maternal and Newborn Health Innovations Project is financed by The Philips Foundation and uses the local expertise of Philips Research Africa in Nairobi to mentor social entrepreneurs and facilitate the transfer of health care technology know-how in Kenya.

Head of The Philips Foundation Katy Hartley in a remark said, they are into the project with partners to offer expertise and support to enable social entrepreneurs to improve health outcomes for their own communities, noting that, “At The Philips Foundation, it is our belief that programs that combine innovation, partnerships and empowering people will make a lasting and meaningful difference in communities.”

“Royal Philips and The Philips Foundation share the same mission and vision: we want to improve people’s lives and we strive to make the world healthier and more sustainable through innovation”.

“The Maternal and Newborn Health Innovations Project, with its focus on strengthening local health care systems, is a clear illustration for us of how private sector companies, together with governments and NGOs, can drive the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially the aim of Goal 3 to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” Hartley explained.

He added that the project was launched ahead of the September 25-27 United Nations Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, where UNICEF is promoting greater involvement of the private sector in improving children’s lives. “The Millennium Development Goals expire at the end of 2015 and are being replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that represent a new set of targets for international development.  The Philips Foundation and UNICEF will promote innovation and technology as a key strategy to realize the new SDGs and improve the lives of women and children where most needed.”

Philips Foundation is a registered charity organization and has been created to help enable lasting social change in disadvantaged communities through the provision and application of innovation, talent and resources.

Royal Philips is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through meaningful innovation; while UNICEF promotes the rights and well-being of every child, in everything it does.