By Bala Ibrahim
Save the Children International (SCI) said lack of effective oxygen treatment system in Nigeria’s clinics and hospitals is the main cause of under five children mortality in Nigeria.
Country Director Save the Children International Nigeria, Mercy Gichuhi disclosed this at the official lunching and handover ceremony of medical oxygen system to Rasheed Shekoni specialist hospital, Dutse, Jigawa state.
She said most hospitals and clinics in Nigeria lack effective oxygen treatment that serve poor families.
A recent study (Graham et al. 2020) of 12 Nigerian hospitals found that only five had oxygen available in pediatric wards, and just one used pulse oximetry for pediatric care.
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“That is the reason why death rates from pneumonia are three times higher for children in the poorest households than they are for children in the richest households.”
“It is our responsibility to support efforts to roll back pneumonia deaths and health inequity, thus protecting vulnerable children,” she stated.
The minister of health represented by Dr. Abdulaziz Abbas said oxygen system is the most essential therapy in the management of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) which is among the leading causes of pneumonia, Covid-19 and other chest infections.
He said therapeutic oxygen system are now more demanding due to Covid-19 pandemic.
He said the Federal Government has procured more therapeutic oxygen system in all the Federal tertiary Hospitals in the country to manage Covid-19 cases and reduce childhood morbidity and mortality in Nigeria.
The ultimate aim is to accelerate achievement of the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhea and Sustainable Development Goal targets of less than 3 child pneumonia deaths per 1,000 births and less than 25 child deaths per 1,000 births by 2030.
The UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation show that children under 5 in Nigeria made up the highest number of those who died, with an estimated 162,000 deaths in 2018.
