SCI urges govt, stakeholders to end under-5 mortality

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

As the world commemorates World Immunization Week, Save the Children International Nigeria urged governments and stakeholders at all levels to accelerate actions toward reducing and ending under-5 mortality rate of children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

It said the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2021 indicated that about 1 in 10 children in Nigeria die before their 5th birthday.

Owing to this, SCI said, all stakeholders should strive to ensure that no child dies from preventable causes before their fifth birthday.

Furthermore, according to the findings of the 2021 Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) & National Immunization Coverage Survey (NICS) carried out by the NBS as part of the global MICS programme, the infant mortality rate is 63 deaths per 1,000 live births for the 5-year period preceding the survey, while the under-5 mortality rate (U5MR) for the same period is 102 deaths per 1,000 live births. The neonatal mortality rate is 34 deaths per 1000 live births. Child mortality is 42 deaths per 1,000 live births. The under-5 mortality rate of children born in the poorest households (133 per 1000) was nearly three times the under-5 mortality rate for children born in the richest households (47 per 1000).

Save the Children believes that immunization saves millions of lives, and it is recognized as one of the world’s most successful health interventions.

It said the benefits of vaccines are fully realized when children receive all recommended vaccine doses in a timely manner.

“Immunization coverage in Nigeria is below the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) goals, i.e., only 36% of children aged 12- 23 months received all recommended vaccines and 18% did not receive any, putting a substantial number of children at risk of vaccine preventable diseases. Substantially more children are fully vaccinated in the southern zones compared to the northern zones, according to the National Immunization Coverage

Survey (NICS), 2021.

“Therefore, we would like to urge all stakeholders to continue to build strong political commitment for an increased immunisation coverage and other primary healthcare interventions, thus contributing to increased domestic investment in health to meet the Abuja Declaration of 15% (2011) as against the present 8% budgetary allocation to health by Nigeria in 2023 at the national level. Save the Children will work with partners and stakeholders towards ensuring that increased health spending directly improves child health services, including removing catastrophic health spending, reducing non-financial barriers to accessing care, and prioritizing primary health services in Nigeria.”