Dr Richard Edosa, the member representing Oredo West in the Edo State House of Assembly, has identified traditional institutions and churches as among the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality in the country.
Edosa also listed lack of knowledge and quackery in the medical profession as contributing factors.
The lawmaker, who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Health, made the remarks when staff of the National Population Commission, led by Tony Aiyejina, the Federal Commissioner in Edo State, visited the deputy speaker of the House, Maria Edeko, at the Assembly Complex in Benin City.
While speaking on the NPC’s 2024 Verbal and Social Autopsy (VASA) programme, the lawmaker added that 158 women die daily from childbirth complications.
According to him, the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality include lack of knowledge and quackery in the medical profession.
“The traditional institutions and churches also contributed to maternal and infant mortality.
“When some pregnant women come to the hospital and are told that the baby is not well-positioned, requiring surgery to deliver the baby, they often run to the church.
“In most cases, by the time they return to the hospital, it is already too late,” he said.
The only Labour Party, LP, in the House, who commended the National Population Commission for the initiative on e-birth registration, noted that children aged 0-5 years are vulnerable to complex diseases.
He opined that taking a census of children would help create a database for planning and policymaking to secure their future.
The lawmaker said the House was ready to cooperate with the Commission to ensure that it achieves its goals.
“You need to try and convince the people because Nigerians have become pessimistic. They tend to doubt every initiative presented by the government.
“People don’t understand that data collection is very vital to national development. Without data, the government cannot plan for its people,” he added.
Earlier, the NPC Federal Commissioner in Edo, Dr Tony Aiyejina, said the visit was to inform the House of the Commission’s plan to carry out e-registration of children under 0-5 years in the state.
Aiyejina explained that children aged 0-5 years would be registered and provided with a National Identification Number and birth certificate at no cost.
He said the exercise, which commenced in August last year in other states of the federation, is scheduled to end on December 31, 2024.
He attributed the delay in commencing the exercise in Edo to the just-concluded governorship election in the state.
Aiyejina solicited the support and collaboration of all lawmakers in the Edo Assembly in creating awareness about the ongoing exercise.
He noted that the initiative is aimed at ensuring that every child in Nigeria has access to essential services such as education and healthcare.
The federal commissioner also informed the lawmakers of the NPC’s ongoing 2024 Verbal and Social Autopsy (VASA) study, which investigates the causes and contributory factors of deaths among children under five years of age and women of reproductive age.
Churches, mosques leading causes of maternal, infant mortality in Nigeria – Lawmaker
