By Tina George, Minna
The National Population Commission (NPC) has began the 2019 Verbal and Social Autopsy (VASA) survey across the 36 states and FCT.
The Federal Commissioner of the National Population Commission (NPC), Barrister Aliyu Datti who spoke about the survey while briefing newsmen in Minna said that the survey will be conducted in the space of two months.
He added that it is expected that the survey would bring out the causes of under-five mortality in Nigeria and aid in generating reliable data in the causes and determinants of neonatal, infant and child mortality in Nigeria.
“The result of the survey will provide national and zonal level estimates of the major causes of under-five mortality in Nigeria from 2013 to 2018. It will make available patterns of care-seeking, social factors and interventions received as related to deaths in children less than five years of age.
“The Commission is strategically prepared and commuted to generating this data to aid planning in the health sector, to this end, all necessary steps have been put in place to make sure that the 2019 VASA survey is successfully implemented.”
The Verbal and Social Autopsy (VASA) survey is a research study that seeks to obtain data to determine the causes and contributory factors to deaths in children under five years.
The Secretary to the Niger State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Matane who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, Alhaji Baba Wachiko assured the commission that government officials in the state and local government levels would give all the necessary support to ensure the success of the exercise.
