Nigerian children need ‘chance for survival’, says report

“We have done quite well in reducing under-five mortality but unfortunately not as well as other countries in child mortality. We need to step up our game,” said Susan Grant, the group’s country director.Speaking as children ran in 200m relay marathon Race For Survival to mark the launch of the report Lives on the Line […]

“We have done quite well in reducing under-five mortality but unfortunately not as well as other countries in child mortality. We need to step up our game,” said Susan Grant, the group’s country director.
Speaking as children ran in 200m relay marathon Race For Survival to mark the launch of the report Lives on the Line in Abuja, she said Nigeria need push to invest more to train healthworkers, step up child immnunisation and ensure equitable access to quality healthcare.
“We need to invest more in really having quality nursing and midwifery schools to train frontline healthworkers to get women and men right down into communities to provide services to every child, every father, every mother.
“With roughly 800 days to target date for 2015 Millennium Development Goals, the Race for Survival is a “final push to see what we can do for millions of children around the world,” said Grant.
At least 15,000 children die every day from preventable diseases, “and we want to ensure we stop this happening,” said Grant. “We want to give them full chance for survival.”
Citing geographical variations and average differences, Tinu Taylor, assistant director for child survival at the federal health ministry, said, “Nigeria could not achieve anything until every state has achieved good child health.”