171,000 Nigerian children risks death in next 6 months – UNICEF

United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has said about 171,000 children in Nigeria risks deaths following weakened health care system in Nigeria.

UNICEF also hinted that globally, 6,000 children under the age of five could die every day, based on an analysis by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, newly published in The Lancet Global Health journal.

It said in Nigeria, the potential child deaths would be in addition to the 475,200 children who already die before their fifth birthday every six months, thus threatening to reverse a decade of progress in ending preventable under-five child mortality in Nigeria.

UNICEF Executive Director, Henrietta Fore, in a statement released in Abuja, yesterday, said under a worst-case scenario, the global number of children dying before their fifth birthday could increase for the first time in decades.

“We must not let mothers and children become collateral damage in the fight against the virus,” Fore said.

UNICEF Nigeria’s Country Representative, Peter Hawkins, said: “We have made steady progress in reducing preventable child and maternal deaths in Nigeria over the last 20 years and it would be devastating if that progress is lost or reversed. It will be devastating for Nigerian families, communities and for the country as a whole.”

He said under-five mortality rate has declined gradually over the last two decades in Nigeria from hitherto 213 deaths per thousand in 1990 to 120 in 2020 due to improved access and coverage of key lifesaving interventions at primary health care and community levels and improved immunisation rates.

“In countries with still overall weak health systems, like Nigeria, COVID-19 is causing disruptions in medical supply chains and straining financial and human resources. Visits to health care centres are declining due to lockdowns, curfews and transport disruptions, and as communities remain fearful of infection,” he said.

Meanwhile, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it has received only one application for approval of a product for the treatment of COVID-19 symptoms and not for cure of the disease.

This was in spite of NAFDAC’s call for the expression of interest for COVID-19 related medicines and efforts of agency to guide researchers and practitioners on how best to submit such medicines to NAFDAC for expedited review.

Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, in a statement, explained that the essence of passing herbal products through thorough and strict test process before approval was granted for human consumption was because some of the herbs were poisonous.