Why Anambra’s child mortality is low, by NPC

National Population Commission (NPC) in Anambra State has commended the state government for its interventions in keeping child mortality at a manageable rate in the State.

The State Director, Mr Joachin Ulasi who stated this on Thursday during the launch and dissemination of the 2019 Verbal And Social Autopsy Survey, said the survey was undertaken to assist policy makers in strategic planning to reduce under 5 mortality rate in the country.

He said the survey revealed that the state was the fourth least in the rate of under 5 deaths in the South East, while Ebonyi had the highest, attributing the success story to the faithfulness of the nursing mothers in the state to guidelines.

He said, “Every 5years we conduct Demographic and Health Survey, which is a marketing group for all health issues, including family planning and mortality rate, fertility, causes of deaths among under 5 children, within two years of survey conduct.

“As you are aware, 0-5 years is critical in terms of mortality rate. The results of the survey would be handed over to policy makers to know how to handle the challenges.

“From the outcome of the survey, we discovered that Ebonyi has the highest rate of under 5 death in the South East, followed by Imo. That’s why the launch is situated there.

“If married or single parent happened to deliver, they are expected to follow the procedure of giving vacine same day, and another one a week after, and another after one month, until four years.

“If you religiously follow the procedure written in the card, the chances of the child having health challenges will be slim, including the five deadly diseases of whooping cough, measles, malaria and polio.

“These are the good things Anambra is doing. We don’t have prevalence of under 5 death in the state. But that’s not the reason to relax. We must keep the tempo to ensure zero death of infancy in the state.”