President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, has advocated a comprehensive road map that would address the challenges of health care delivery in the country as a panacea towards the reduction of maternal and child deaths.
Senator David Mark said the Nigerian government is committed to the drastic reduction of child and mother deaths on account of poor or inadequate health facilities.
Speaking at an interactive session between Senators and the partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH) in Abuja yesterday, Senator Mark said available statistic shows that Nigeria contributes only 2% of world population and yet accounts for 10% of the global maternal deaths.
He lamented that Nigerian ranked highest in Africa in terms of number of neonatal death and second world wide in terms of under 5 deaths.
“These situations must be addressed if Nigeria is to join other developed nations. It is only proper that we do something urgent to arrest the situation,” he stated.
Senator Mark traced parts of the problems to traditional beliefs and inadequate capital for health care services.
To this end, he promised that the National Assembly will as a matter of deliberate policy, increase appropriation to the health sector in the 2013 Budget especially now that the devastating flood across the country has worsened the situation.
Earlier, the Chairman of (PMNCH), Professor Julio Frenk who doubles as the Dean, School of Public Health, Harvard University, United States of America said Nigeria is one of the fastest growing nations in the world and therefore requires adequate health care facilities to take care of the population.
He urged Nigerian government to adopt the resolution of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Kampala, Uganda 2012 on how to curtail the maternal mortality.
Earlier, Nigerian Health Minister, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu noted that the group visited the country in order to partner with the government in its efforts at combating the menace of mother-child deaths.
