Associate Professor of Public Health at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Dr Mobolanle Balogun, has lamented that Nigeria has the highest number of maternal deaths in the world with 82,000 deaths per year, making up 13% of the world’s total.
She said the situation was unacceptable and called for collective action to reverse the trend.
She spoke in Lagos during the inauguration of the #weMenforHer campaign by the Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective (MRHRC).
The initiative sought to harness the unifying power of society, irrespective of gender, in a resounding call to action for maternal wellbeing.
Balogun stated that the leading causes of the crisis were bleeding, obstructive labour, infections after delivery, limited access to health facilities, lack of skilled birth attendants, lack of knowledge of health status, cultural beliefs and poverty amongst others.
The executive director of MRHRC, Mrs Funke Iroko, stated that the focus of the initiative was to ensure that women and girls, regardless of status, are able to access quality healthcare.
The permanent secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Health, Dr Olayiwole Onasanya, represented by Professor Abidoye Gbadegesin, Chairman of the Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Nigeria (SOGON), stated that maternal mortality is a worldwide problem with Nigeria bearing the largest share of the burden.
“This is a big burden in Nigeria. Whereas in other countries, it is a single-digit maternal mortality, in Nigeria we are looking at 3-4 digit maternal mortality,” he stated.
The founder and chairperson of MRHR Collective, Professor Bosede Afolabi, stated that part of the problem is the lack of attention to data.
