The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Ali Pate has said Nigeria continues to record about 850,000 preventable newborn and under-five deaths annually despite progress made in child survival efforts.

Pate stated this in Abuja yesterday during the commemoration of the 2025 World Pneumonia and Prematurity Days. He was represented by John Urakpa, the director of health promotion.

The minister stressed that although Nigeria had achieved a 45 percent reduction in under-five mortality over the last two decades, the rate remained unacceptably high and required urgent, sustained intervention.

He said: “Data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) show that under-five mortality has declined from 201 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000 to 110 in 2023. “Despite this modest progress, approximately 850,000 preventable newborn and under-five deaths occur each year.