UNICEF, NBS report shows drop in infant mortality, increase in child malnutrition in Nigeria

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), UNICEF and other key partners have officially released the results of the fifth Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS5), conducted in 2016 and 2017.

The survey results showed that Nigeria made significant improvements in some areas while others remain unchanged or have worsened since 2011 by not keeping pace with population growth when the last survey was conducted.

For example, according to the results, the infant mortality rate has dropped to 70 per 1000 live births from 97 in 2011. Equally, deaths among children under age five have dropped to 120 per 1000 live births from 158 in 2011.

However, malnutrition among children under age five has worsened nationwide with the highest concerns in northern states. Child wasting (children who are too thin for their age) increased from 24.2% to 31.5%, while child stunting (children who are too short for their age) increased from 34.8% to 43.6%.

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MICS5 is a recognised and definitive source of information for assessing the situation of children and women in the areas of Health; Nutrition; Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH); Education; Protection; and HIV & AIDS amongst others – in Nigeria as well as in other countries where it is carried out.

The findings of the survey are used for planning, monitoring and decision making on programmes and policies to address issues related to the well-being of children and women in Nigeria.

“The use of this new MICS5 data will improve the lives of Nigerians by informing about important gaps that are impacting children and women so that appropriate actions can be taken”, said Pernille Ironside, Acting Representative for UNICEF in Nigeria. “It is not about data for the sake of data”, she added.

Since 1995, UNICEF has supported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with technical assistance and funding to conduct five rounds of MICS, informing progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other major national and global commitments.

It stated that the data for MICS5 was collected between September 2016 and January 2017 from 33,901 households in 2,239 enumeration areas across the 36 States and Federal Capital Territory. A total of 34,376 eligible women; 28,085 of mothers/caregivers of children under 5 years; and 15,183 men were reportedly interviewed using structured questionnaires aided by Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) devices, which makes this the largest MICS survey conducted in Africa to date.

 

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