FEDERAL MINISTRY OF HEALTH IS BUILDING CAPACITY OF 120,000 FRONTLINE HEALTH WORKERS ON ESSENTIAL NEWBORN CARE 01-12-23
By Sadiq Aminu The Federal Ministry of health is building capacity of 120,000 frontline health workers on essential newborn care and other interventions.
The Coordinating Minister of Health, Prof. Ali Pate, stated this at an event to mark the 2023 World Prematurity Day in Abuja.
Prof. Pate said the day was set-aside to evaluate the implementation strategies as it concerns the health of newborn and preterm babies.
Preterm babies are born alive before 37completed weeks of pregnancy and according to the Minister it is the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age.
The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ms Daju Kachollum noted the progress made to reduce preterm births, but urged stakeholders to do more to ensure the country meets the SDG target of 12 per 1000 live births.
‘’Available data on neonatal mortality is not encouraging, as the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey of (NDHS) of 2013 recorded neonatal mortality at 37 per 1,000 live births while 2018 NDHS put the figures at 39 per 1000 live births’’.
‘’The 2016/2017 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) reported Neonatal mortality rate at 39 per 1000 live births. However, the 2021 MICS report showed a 5-point drop in the neonatal mortality rate, indicating that our combined efforts are beginning to yield some results’’, she said.
On the theme 2023 World Prematurity Day is’ Small Actions, Big Impact: Skin-to-Skin Care for Every Baby Everywhere’, Ms Kachollum explained it is one of the interventions to prevent newborn deaths.
At the end of the event, the Permanent Secretary launched three documents geared towards reducing newborn deaths particularly due to Preterm births.
They are; the Nigerian Every Newborn Action Plan, the Chlorhexidine Scale up strategy and the Facilitators Guide for Comprehensive Newborn Care Course.
Ms Kachollum also unveiled the Caffeine Citrate Market Survey, for dissemination to the public.