The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said that Katsina state recorded 29 per cent reduction in under-five mortality rate between 2011 and 2021.
The UNICEF Chief Officer, Kano, Mr Rahama Mohammed-Farah, made the disclosure at workshop for the launch of review of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) for Katsina State.
He said that the MICS was a survey carried out at the household level to provide statistically reliable data on key development indicators concerning children, women and vulnerable groups in the society.
“The 2021 MICS showed that between 2011-2021 and in 10 years, Katsina state has reduced its under-five mortality by 29 per cent, however, despite this progress, this rate continues to be higher than the national average,” he said.
Mohammed-Farah said in terms of immunization, the survey indicated that the state had made significant improvement in Penta 3 coverage of 41 per cent, the coverage is still very low.
He also said that the Antenatal Care (ANC) services provided by skilled health personnel were very critical for mothers and children health.
“In this area, Katsina state is doing worse, with only 40.2 per cent of ANC visits are attended by skilled health personnel,” he said.
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He stressed the need for significant improvement in primary health care services in terms of access and quality particularly at ward level.
On malnutrition, he said, based on the preliminary findings from a recently completed SMART survey across the state, an estimated 245,300 children aged under-five were suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) needing immediate treatment.
The officer explained that there was a continuous need across the states in the Northwest of Nigeria for effective interventions to reduce poverty and improve the basic social services in health, education, nutrition, social protection, water and sanitation and child’s rights.
“State Governments in the Northwest of Nigeria, including Katsina, must carefully review the MICS data, analyze the underlying and contributing root causes of these poor human development indicators and implement better focused and effective strategies to address them,” he said.
The state Commissioner of Health, Mr Yakubu Nuhu-Danja, represented by Dr Nafisa Adamu, commended the development partners for the support being given to the state.
He said that such collaboration would assist to have good results for the betterment of the citizens.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information, Alhaji Sani Bala-Kabomo, assured the state government of his commitment in all the sectors with a view to enhancing living condition of the people. (NAN)
