Everyday, Nigeria loses about 575 newborn babies, who are mainly within their first week of life. These deaths represent a quarter of the total 2, 300 under-five deaths that occur daily in the country.
These rising deaths have succeeded in pitching the country, in the 11th position on newborn deaths globally, as revealed by a new report by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Consequently, the UNICEF is calling for urgent intervention against newborn deaths through access to well trained nurses and midwives.
 

WHEN Mildred Haruna (not real name) was raped during an armed robbery incident in her Lagos environ in 2005, she never imagined that events of that fateful night would haunt her for the rest of her life.
 
Soon after the traumatising incident, Mildred discovered that she was pregnant. Her grief further increased because even if she decided to keep the pregnancy, her mega salary could not sustain the baby. Also, the baby some day may be referred to as a bastard since he did not have a father.
 

Nigeria’s former Minister of Health, Professor Adenike Grange has blamed the Nigerian governments at all levels for the poor health care delivery system in the country.
 
Delivering a keynote speech at the 19th Professor Bassey Andah Memorial Lecture at weekend, Professor Grange said short life expectancy caused by high infant and maternal mortality rate is one of the major challenges facing the country’s healthcare delivery system.

The popular perception of most Northern states in Nigeria is that of poverty. “In 19 northern states of Nigeria, human development indices showed they are by far poorer than other parts of the country,” Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said in 2015.
 
And with poverty comes an avalanche of social problems, including a poor health system. But one state, Katsina, is proving the bookmakers wrong, judging from the recent developments in the state’s health sector.