« For Congo, the wounds run deep… | Home | Violence continues in Kenya »

Nigeria moving forward with IMNCH strategy

January 29, 2008

Nigeria is taking some of its first needed steps amidst the movement toward improving international child healthcare. First Lady Turai Yar’Adua of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was officially appointed today as the National Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) in Nigeria, meaning that she will oversee all progress made and be directly responsible for improvement to child and maternal healthcare there. She has committed today to bring about drastic reductions to the

over 55,000 maternal and 1 million child deaths occuring annually in Nigeria in order to be removed from the MNCH list of 60 critical countries. This is the list that as of 2005 ranked Nigeria as 13th in percentage of child deaths for children five y.o.a. and younger.

What a fantastic step for the children of Nigeria and children everywhere! If a country with some of the more severe, well-known child health issues can begin to take actions to do more for the future of our world, then every country with child and maternal health care issues (thats every country on the planet, no country is perfect!) can follow Nigeria’s lead. Good to know SOS Children’s Villages is already doing its part to assist with these issues, right? We are currently working on child, infant and maternal issues in Nigeria through our three SOS Children’s Villages in Nigeria, two SOS Youth Facilities, three SOS Kindergartens, three SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools, one SOS Vocational Training Centre and four SOS Social Centers. Visit our website for more information on us, what we do, and how you can help!

Topics: Africa, Case Study |