Nigeria is now second highest among countries with a high number of maternal deaths in the world, a new report from the World Health Organisation, WHO has disclosed.
The report tagged the 2023 Progress Report, revealed that Nigeria accounts for 29 per cent of the global toll in 290,000 maternal deaths cases every year and may miss the SDG target by 2030.
The country also ranked highest globally in incidences of neonatal and child deaths. The report also highlighted 8 other countries with high maternal, neonatal and stillbirths including Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and the United Republic of Tanzania.
The report showed that maternal and infant mortality rates in Nigeria have stagnated since 2015, approximately occurring every year.
The world health body warned that based on current trends, over 60 countries, including Nigeria, may miss maternal, newborn, and stillborn mortality reduction targets set in the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
The report which blamed the trend on disruptions by the COVID-19 pandemic also showed that Nigeria took the second position as more women continued to die from pregnancy-related problems in the last three years.
Other factors of concern include growing poverty, worsening humanitarian conditions and inadequate funding bedevilling countries across the globe.
