The United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, has described as tragedy, revelation that Nigeria accounts for one of the highest stillbirth rates in Africa.
UNICEF Nigeria, in a document released to journalists on Monday, November 23, said one stillbirth occurs every 16 seconds, according to the first-ever Joint United Nations estimates.
The document noted that almost 2 million babies are stillborn every year according to the joint report by UNICEF, the World Health Organization, WHO, the World Bank Group, and the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
The report tagged: A Neglected Tragedy: The Global Burden of stillbirths’ says the vast majority of stillbirths, 84 per cent, occur in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
The report hinted that Nigeria is one of six countries that bear the burden of half of all stillbirths globally, together with India, Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, and Ethiopia.
The UN report said between 2000-2019 Nigeria reported a 15 percent increase in the number of stillbirths while estimating the total number of stillbirths in Nigeria in 2019 to be 171,428.
The global stillbirth report warns that the COVID-19 pandemic could worsen the global number of stillbirths, as nearly 200,000 additional stillbirths over a 12-month period in 117 low- and middle-income countries, including Nigeria, could occur due to a 50 percent reduction in health services.
A stillbirth is defined in the report as a baby born with no signs of life at 28 weeks of pregnancy or more.
Editor: Omor Bazuaye
