Infant mortality: Ogun government responds to latest MICS report

The Ogun State government has taken note of the release of a Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) report, rating the state as having the highest infant mortality rate of southwestern Nigeria.

The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) is conducted every two years by the Bureau of Statistics with the support of partners to fill the data gap for monitoring the health status of children and mothers.

The survey had, in recent statistics, recorded Ogun State as having the highest record of deaths of children aged 0-5 years as well as post-natal care for newborns, in the southwestern part of the country.

But the state government, in a statement by Health Commissioner Dr Olutomi Coker on Saturday in Abeokuta, clarified the matter regarding the recent result released at the latest MICS in Ibadan, State of 'Oyo.

Coker said the state government is aware of the health situation of women and children in the state, the situation is not as portrayed by the publication. She said the report also made it clear that the sample size was not adequate for the majority of the state's indicators, thus making the report a poor representation of the true picture of child health in the state. .

"Our attention has been drawn to a publication ranking three southwestern states as having high child mortality, as published in the latest MICS released recently in Ibadan. Although the Ogun State Department of Health acknowledges the outcome of the investigation, we would like to state that we are monitoring the health status of our women and children in the state. Every effort is being made to ensure that Ogun State continues to rank among one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the South West.

"The survey is conducted every two years and the MICS 5 results for Ogun State were significantly low compared to recent results, which was surprising given the various interventions we have put in place in as an administration to improve health outcomes for our mothers and children,” she noted in the statement.

The Health Commissioner pointed out that the reporting period of the inquiry was marked by a major change in the healthcare system with the COVID-19 pandemic. which paralyzed the country's health system,

Dr. Coker further stated that recent review of our data suggests that around 40% of pregnant women in Ogun State choose to visit Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) for delivery, which may have a impact on maternal and child outcomes.

She remarked that this administration is not sitting on its oars on the above subject, revealing that systems and innovations have been instituted to deal with this undesirable trend.

Some of the innovations she says include the systematic redirection of pregnant women to embrace childbirth in public health facilities through the enrollment of more than 50,000 pregnant women and children under 5 in the basic health care program in the 20 local government areas; training health workers including doctors, midwives and CHEW on Helping Babies Breathe; orientation of traditional birth attendants on identification of danger signs during pregnancy, newborn resuscitation and early referrals; the recent release of equity by His Excellency Prince Dapo Abiodun MFR as insurance premium payment for over 4,345 pregnant women to further encourage institutional birth and improve survival indices of the child.

She added that the launch of the Hub and Spoke project to drive early referrals from our ATs to secondary and tertiary health facilities, renovation and equipping of primary health care centers in the 20 LGAs to create enabling environment and providing quality grassroots health services, are also facilitated by the state government.

Coker further revealed that amid the national shortage of health personnel, the Ogun State Primary Health Care Board recently recruited 55 midwives and 48 doctors to supplement the workforce. existing workforce at the primary health care level, while plans are at an advanced stage to have a mother-child unit with a dedicated fetal medicine center at Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu.

While associating the fears of the state's population on the report, specifically mothers and caregivers, the commissioner however noted that "we believe that with the above innovations and interventions, infant mortality should be on a downward trajectory”.

“The district health information system (the national health information database) will be constantly polled to monitor child mortality trends in the state and an appropriate response will continue to be deployed in timely," Coker said.