FUOYE launches study into high child mortality in Ekiti – Features – The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News

A Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) based health initiative has launched an investigation into why Ekiti State has the highest mortality rate among children before they reach the age of five, which is the highest among South-Western states. a way forward for policymakers, including government.

Professor Sunday Adedini (Principal Investigator/Project Director of the Research Infrastructure Model for Improving Child Health) during the project launch and stakeholder engagement yesterday in Ado Ekiti, noted that the National Population Commission survey showed that 9 out of every 1,000 children living in Ekiti are born, do not survive the age of five, adding that even those who survive the age of one may not survive their fifth birthday.

Adedini said the Population Health Initiative is working with FUOYE, the Federal Teaching Hospital Ido Ekiti (FETHI), Adolescent NGO, the Science for Africa Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

He said: “We want to monitor what is happening in terms of death registrations and birth registrations. How many die, why do they die, where do they die and in what community. Even at the national level, Nigeria as a country is very poor in terms of civil registration and vital statistics. We don’t even know if we’re making progress, other than the routine surveys every five years.

“How do we make progress? How do we ensure that things are done right? In many African countries, we have a so-called health and demographic survey that has been set up in different countries. South Africa has four; Ghana has four. Sadly, in Nigeria, the only survivor is based at the University of Calabar.

“There is none in the southwest. So what we are doing is not just for Ekiti, but for the entire South West. We plan to use the pilot to address the issue of infant mortality, including geographical environmental factors and other related issues, so that we can reverse the trend.”

The professor of Demography and Statistics said that children should be given the opportunity to develop their potential; in other words, every pregnancy should count. Everyone who is born needs to be supported to stay alive and fulfill his or her purpose and potential.

He lamented that despite the United Nations’ goal of leaving no one behind, especially the NFPA, children continue to face discrimination and have different chances of survival depending on where they were born or where they grew up. In absolute numbers, Nigeria has the highest number of child deaths in the world.

In his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the FUOYE, Professor Abayomi Fasina, said the University is taking a big step forward within the Committee of Universities in Nigeria, commending the Principal Investigator, Prof. Adedini, whom he described as one of the best researchers in the world. field of demography and statistics currently present in the world.

Fasina, who was represented at the event by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Academia, Prof. Olubunmi Shittu, said the principal investigator “makes us proud by winning a grant that will touch lives and humanity. We are willing to support this research by ensuring that the outcome is made available to end users. He put the university on the world map.”

The Traditional Ruler of Ido Ekiti and the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti, Oba Ayorinde Faboro, said the investigation would draw attention to Ekiti, urging investigators not to stop at identifying infant mortality but to find a solution to the problem.

He promised to support the teams that will come to his community by following them personally to sensitize the people so that they can carry out a hassle-free exercise.