PIAF: Infant Mortality in Nigeria Must Be Curbed

The Pillar Initiative Aid Foundation (PIAF), a leading nonprofit organisation committed to improving access to healthcare, has made a donation of N1million to the Health Emergency Initiative (HEI) towards reducing infant mortality, saying that Nigeria must put an end to such deaths in order to secure the future of her children.

The latest donation is in furtherance of the earlier donation of N1m by PIAF in 2022 to address child and maternal health benefitted a total of 55 indigent patients across several government hospitals in Lagos State.

According to recent statistics, Nigeria has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, with an estimated 74,000 deaths infants at birth.

A recent report by UNICEF stated that more than 15 percent of Nigerian infants do not live to see their 5th birthday. Most of these deaths are caused by preventable illnesses, such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, sepsis and malaria, tetanus, meningitis, typhoid fever, etc.

This year alone, there has been a significant rise in fatalities due to the effect of the Naira redesign earlier in the year which further exacerbated access to healthcare, especially for indigent children.

With this donation, HEI will provide life-saving support for infants and young children in various Lagos State public hospitals. The funds will be used to ensure timely intervention to enable infants to access healthcare when needed through payment of hospital bills, drugs purchase, and diagnoses that are essential for treating and preventing these illnesses.

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Speaking on the donation, Paschal Achunine, the executive director of HEI, said, “We believe that every child in Nigeria deserves access to quality healthcare, and reducing infant mortality is a critical step towards achieving this goal.

We are proud to support the efforts of Pillar Initiative Aid Foundation for working tirelessly to save the lives of infants and young children.”

HEI is an NGO that has assisted and brought succour to more than 4,550 indigent and vulnerable patients and accident victims across Lagos state and beyond. It is also a recipient of the Best Supporting NGO Award both from the Lagos State Health Service Commission and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

Funmi Babatunde-Dada, a co-founder of Pillar Aid Initiative Foundation (PIAF) along with Tiwa Sonuga and Olubukola Sanni applauded the organisation’s supporters and partners for their commitment to improving healthcare in Nigeria. “We couldn’t do this work without the support of our donors and partners, and we are grateful for their continued generosity,” she said.

PIAF is a nonprofit organisation covering such areas as good health and well-being among other SDG Goals. The donation from PIAF is part of its ongoing commitment to improving healthcare in Nigeria.

The organisation has also lent its support to initiatives to improve maternal health, combat infectious diseases, and strengthen healthcare systems in the country.