The United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF has said that 70 per cent of child mortality cases in Nigeria are preventable through straightforward measures such as breastfeeding, hand washing, immunization, proper nutrition, and access to clean water, but due to low awareness such a vintage opportunity has not been adopted promptly.

The Health Officer from UNICEF’s Bauchi Field Office, Dr. Oluseyi Olusunde gave the figures in his presentation during a Media Dialogue on ending child mortality held in Jos, Plateau State, with participants drawn from the focus MoU states of Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba.

He shows the figures on slide presentation of trends on child mortality in Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba states, emphasizing the need to gear up collective effort to ensure children’s health and well-being are given proper attention.

Olusunde cited data showing that Nigeria accounts for 1 million of the 5 million global child deaths each year, for Bauchi, Gombe, and Taraba alone report mortality rates of 38, 45, and 37 children per 1,000 lives birth respectively, noting that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets to reduce this number to 17 per 1,000 by 2030.

A recent survey (NDHS 2023/2024) highlights that about 7 out 10 (around 70 per cent) of births in Bauchi and Taraba occur at home, and about 5 out of 10 deliveries (55.1 per cent) in Gombe, occur at home.

Additionally, nearly 3 out 10 (30 per cent) of newborns in Bauchi and Taraba and 5 out of 10 (50 per cent) in Gombe do not receive postnatal care, and three out of ten children in these states lack essential immunizations.

Also in another presentation, the UNICEF’s Health Specialist in Bauchi Field Office, Dr. David Audu defined child mortality as the death of children under five and stresses that Nigeria’s neonatal, infant, and underfive mortality rates remain unacceptably high.