Infant Mortality: The Rate Is Declining In Cross River
Dr. Linda Ayade, the wife of the Cross River State governor, has stated that the rate of infant mortality cases in Cross River State are declining. She mentioned this on Thursday in Calabar during the official flag-off of Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week.
According to Dr. Ayade, who was being represented by Dr. Janet Ekpenyong, the Director-General of the Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, the infant mortality rate is steadily reducing in Cross River State as a result of the proactive measures that they have been putting in place so as to ensure that young children who are between the ages of 0 to 5 years are immunised against diseases that are vaccine-preventable.
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“All these high impact interventions are helping us achieve that and visits to health facilities have decreased thereby reducing patronage of health facilities. For so many years now, there has been no outbreak of diseases in the state, and exercises like this have helped the state tremendously over the years.”
Dr. Ayade explained that the main target for the exercise, which was the first for this year, was to make sure that no child in Cross River state who is between the age of 0 to 5 years, as well as pregnant women, would be left out.
She also mentioned that the Maternal Newborn and Child Health week would give the health workers the opportunity to deworm the children as well as give them Vitamin A supplementations that they need to build up their immunity at a tender age, and added that the exercise would take place simultaneously in all of the18 local government areas and communities in the state.
No less than 900,000 pregnant women and infants were expected to benefit from the exercise.
