Oyo State is the worst hit by the high burden of malnutrition in the South West zone, a study by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) in collaboration with the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH) has revealed.
The study revealed that 27% of children under-five in the state are stunted, and 18% of women of reproductive age in the state wishing to practice family planning do not have access.
These were part of revelations from a Mentorship Training for Media Champions in Child and Family Health in the South West geo-political zone in Lagos over the weekend.
It was attended by 20 journalists working in child and family health in the country.
Diarrhoea and pneumonia contribute 10 per cent each to the high Under-5 mortality rate in the South west, the study further showed.
A communique issued by the participants stated that sustainable funding and concerted public-private effort towards adequate routine immunisation would not only prevent development of childhood killer diseases (pneumonia and diarrhoea) but also successfully interrupt the transmission of wild polio virus in Nigeria.
According to the communique, improving and sustaining intervention through adequate funding, and full implementation of the 2014 National Health Act to enhance Primary Health Care services will help to combat and mitigate the burden of children from pneumonia and diarrhoea in the country.
Others are adoption and implementation of the recommendations and guidelines by the United Nations Commission on Life-Saving Commodities, and creation of specific budget line for procurement of the commodities.
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