Newborn Deaths: FG Urged To Finalise Passage Approval Of NHB

[Shola Sholaz]

In the wake of the State of the World's Mothers 2013 Report ranking Nigeria 2nd among the top 10 countries with the most first-day of life deaths, the Federal government has been urged to urgently finalise passage and approval of the National Health Bill, NHB, to provide more resources to tackle the high incidence of maternal and infant deaths.
.
The call is coming on the heels of the release of the Report which ranked Nigeria 2nd among the top 10 countries with the most first-day of life deaths.
.
According to the Report not less than 89,700 (9 percent) babies die on their first day of life every year in Nigeria.
.
The Report, which is 14th in series of the "Save the Children entitled "Surviving the First Day" compared first-day death rates for 186 countries and found that in most countries, children are at greatest risk on the day they are born.