Children and Women Advocate, Mrs. Matilda Otitoloju, has urged Federal and State Governments to establish specialised hospitals for the health needs of children, to reduce mortality rate.
Otitoloju, also the project Coordinator, Iyaniwura Children Care Foundation (ICCF), made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
She said most hospitals combined both services for children and adults.
The advocate stated that such arrangement might not meet the required medical needs of children.
According to her, children need a paediatrician, family physician, paediatric surgeon and other primary healthcare practitioners to be healthy.
“We should establish separate hospitals for children because the services we provide for both adults and children vary,” Otitoloju said.
She noted that the specialised health facilities for children would reduce mortality and morbidity rates in the country.
“Many children are suffering from lack of good drinking water, access to good health system and their parents cannot afford their medical bills.
“Free medical care for children from ages 0 to 14 will improve the nation’s healthcare indices, as it is being done in advanced countries.
“The managements of both government and privately owned hospitals should focus more on building capacities and improving their services on paediatric cases,” she said.
According to her, we have since found out that childhood trauma and mortality are common in Nigeria because many children lack nutrition and good health system.
Otitoloju said: “In Nigeria, we have enough resources to provide free services for all children.”
She emphasised the need for integration of primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare into the treatment plan, for easy access to healthcare for sick babies and infants.
The children and women advocate also called for improvement in the newborns health system.
Otitoloju said this had become imperative as statistics for paediatric health system were not well-coordinated in the country.
“Unhealthy children grow up to be unhealthy adults, poor health and low income go hand-in-hand, and both poverty and poor health make large demands on public coffers.
“Therefore, promoting children’s health is essential for improving the population’s health.
“Policies to prevent children’s health problems can be wise investments, and policy makers should implement carefully designed policies and programmes, to promote child health,” she said. (NAN)
