‘Nigeria has one of the worst maternal and child mortality in the world’

Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said yesterday that Nigeria has one of the worst indices of maternal mortality, reproductive health mortality and child mortality in the world, but revealed that the government was working to establish a National Emergency Medical Services that will help address the challenges in the sector.

The minister, who spoke at a three day retreat organsied by the House Committee on Health Services, said he has written to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Minister of Finance on the need to set up a Public Health Security Fund to help finance public health in the country.

The minister said “Nigeria has one of the worst indices in maternal health, reproductive health, child health. Under 5 mortality; we are one of the worst in the world. There was a time we were getting over 900 maternal deaths per 10,000 live births. In the last five years, it stagnated because of the investment,” he said.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Health Services, Hon. Tanko Shanunu (APC, Kebbi), said efforts at amending the National Health Act requires a deep knowledge and understanding of the provision of the Act, as well as identifying the gaps in the Act and bottlenecks associated with implementation.