Lagos Maternal Mortality Rate Reaches 1.1 Million

The maternal mortality rate in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, has hit 1.1 million annually, says the Lagos State Government as it prepares to launch maternal and child mortality prevention programme.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris disclosed this at a news conference on the proposed launch of the programme billed for Thursday.

Idris said the figure, which represents 5.55 percent of the population, was obtained from donor agencies and that mortality rate in the state had dropped drastically despite the rate of maternal mortality annually.
He said the figure was a product of a research based on a projected population of 21 million residents in the state, saying the present figure of 5.5 percent was unacceptable to the state government.
The commissioner said the state was not relenting in its efforts to reduce the rate of maternal and child deaths in the state to a zero level.

Idris asserted that the Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction Programme was anchored on the implementation of a five-year work plan in line with the State’s zero tolerance for maternal and child mortality.

He explained that the work plan was to address the major causes of maternal deaths which, include haemorrhage, toxaemia of pregnancy (eclampsia and pre-eclampsia), obstructed labour and complication of unsafe abortion and the major causes of children’s deaths, including malaria, diarrhea and respiratory tract infections.Idris stated that the maternal and child mortality reduction programme advisory committee was first inaugurated in 2008 comprising relevant stakeholders drawn from the medical field.He said that since the development of the plans, government had begun its implementation through phased infrastructural upgrade, staffing and equipping of a 24-hour primary health care centre in each of the 57 local government and local council development areas to provide basic emergency obstetric care services.

“The Lagos State Government has also constructed, staffed and equipped ten 100 and 110 bedded maternal and child health centres; five of which have been commissioned and are already operational.

Relevant capacity building and professional development of human resources for health is also on-going while we have also procured and distributed essential obstetric drugs and equipment to these facilities,” he stated.