Maternal/Child mortality: NPC conducts survey in 67 Kogi communities
IDRIS AHMED, Lokoja.
As part of efforts to further ascertain circumstances leading to the Maternal and Child mortality, the National Population Commission (NPC) has declared that its field officers will be conducting Verbal and Social Autopsy (VASA) in 67 selected Kogi communities .
Briefing Journalists in Lokoja on Monday, the NPC Federal Commissioner in Kogi State, Yori Afolabi, disclosed that the survey was last conducted about six years ago in 2019.
The Federal Commissioner stated that the last exercise was held from November 17 to December 17.
He said the commission’s trained data collectors would visit households to conduct interviews with family members and gather information that could assist the NPC in understanding the circumstances surrounding maternal and child deaths.
Afolabi explained that the nationwide exercise was being executed in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, aimed at building on previous efforts.
“This round of VASA study is aimed at building on previous efforts in 2014 and 2019, which provided valuable information that helped shape health policies and interventions aimed at reducing preventable deaths.
“The study is a follow-up to the 2023-2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey that was concluded in May this year. We will be going back to the NDHS households to ask for information that will help the government understand and plan to address the biomedical and social causes of death of children under age five, and for women of reproductive age”, he said.
Afolabi assured that the survey would collect essential data on both maternal and child mortalities, focusing on the social and health-related factors that contribute to these tragic losses.
The NPC commissioner added that the information would empower decision-makers to address the underlying issues that lead to these deaths, and will ultimately inform policies aimed at improving maternal and child health in the country.
