80% under-five deaths occur in primary health centres — Osinbajo

PUNCH

The Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo on Monday said 80 per cent of the 2,500 Nigerian under-five children who die every day occur in the primary health care centres.

Osinbajo said this in his keynote address at the launch of the Community-Based Health Research Innovative Training and Services Programme in Abuja.

According to him, Nigeria accounts for only two per cent of the world’s population but accounts for 14 per cent of the world’s maternal death burden.

“Similarly, our country loses 2,500 children under the age of five every day due to largely preventable causes, including the lack of services that skilled birth attendants could provide. It is of interest that 80 per cent of these death burdens occur in the primary health care and community levels,” he said.

Osinbajo, who was represented by the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen said no country can boast of effective healthcare delivery without adequate and well-distributed human resources for health.

“No matter how much of a masterpiece the architecture of a health facility is, or how sophisticated the equipment are, or even the availability of the commodities, a health care delivery system will not function optimally if there are not enough skilled workers”.

“There is no better way to tackle the challenges of health care delivery in Nigeria than to close the gaps in the equitable availability of skilled health workers in Nigeria’s PHC facilities. This can be achieved…