1.5 per cent of pregnant women die of complications
5th October 2007
More than 1,500 pregnant women out of every 100,000 (1.5 per cent) in Bauchi State, Nigeria, die of pregnancy complications, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Altine Tongo, has said.
She told reporters on Thursday in Bauchi that the situation was due to the absence of modern reproductive health facilities at the 23 general hospitals. She said the maternal mortality rate was one of the worst in the world, with 800 deaths per 100,000 births.
She explained that more than 140 infants out of 1,000 die from the six child-killer diseases, while the under-five mortality rate had risen to 260 per 1,000.
The commissioner attributed the situation to the neglect suffered by the health sector in the last eight years, adding that the statistics had been verified by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Tongo said the present administration inherited decayed health facilities "because all the 23 general hospitals and primary health care institutions lacked basic diagnostic tools," and that: "virtually all the general hospitals do not have simple medical tools such as thermometers, BP machines, weighing scales, resuscitation equipment, oxygen, as well as complete surgical tools.
"Besides, there is only one functional X-ray machine and one ultra-sound machine for all the 23 general hospitals in the 20 local government areas."
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October 5 2007, The Tide (Nigeria)