Nigeria Health Watch
Aloysius Chidiebere Ugwu (Lead Writer) In January 2020, in the middle of the dry season known as harmattan in Nigeria, I was in Kano state performing my duties as a health advocate when I received news from my wife which redefined my plans for the next nine months. “Babe, I think my body is changing, […]
After six months of anxiety, panic and unrest as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical doctors at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) have treated and discharged the last patient in the hospital’s isolation centre. Records from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, as at the time of publication, show that Rivers […]
“This article was produced in collaboration with Maternal Figures, a database of maternal health interventions implemented in Nigeria.” At Amorji Nike Primary Healthcare Centre [PHC] in Enugu East local government council, more than a dozen women with their children wrapped in their arms sit patiently in a waiting room at the premises. The women came […]
Shafa’atu Abubakar, 37, is a mother of ten who lives in Ubandoma, Sifawa town, Bodinga Local Government in Sokoto State. In January 2020, she gave birth to her 10th and last child at the primary health centre in Ubandoma. It was her first experience giving birth at a health centre. Abubakar says prior to this […]
Lagos Island Maternity Hospital is one of the best known public health facilities in Lagos, which has for many years, served communities on Lagos Island and the larger area commonly known as the Island. Located in the heart of Lagos Island, a few metres away from the privately-owned St. Nicholas Hospital, it provides maternity care […]
Every single day, Nigeria loses about 145 women of childbearing age, making her the second largest contributor to the maternal mortality rate in the world, according to UNICEF. When this statistic came out earlier this year, it elicited different responses from different people online, and started up a debate among friends, co-workers and total strangers […]
In continuation of our series to highlight innovative interventions across the Nigerian health sector, Nigeria Health Watch team member Ada Ezeokoli recently visited the ObiJackson Children’s Hospital in Okija, Anambra State, to learn more about how this island of modernity is being positioned to challenge a culture of low expectations in maternal and child health. […]
Editor’s Note: Over the years we have written vigorously on the things that do not work in the Nigerian health sector. This week we are starting a new series of highlighting projects and programmes that do work, showing that despite the chaos, there are pockets of excellence in sometimes unusual places. In the first story […]
Editor: The National Summit on reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH) will take place in Abuja on February 16-18. The inaugural Summit will address accountability in healthcare delivery for women, newborns, and other vulnerable groups. By now it is no secret that Nigeria’s maternal and child health indicators, while improving, are still at […]
Editor: On the 19th of December 2015, we at Nigeria Health Watch joined the ONE Campaign and 24 other Non-Governmental Organisations in writing a letter to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on health and the associated budget currently going through the legislature. The letter was delivered to the Presidency, the leadership of the Senate […]
In August 2015, reports emerged in the Nigerian press that “Nigeria had attained the Millennium Development Goals”. The article below quoted the Secretary of Programmes in the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Mr. Ogenyi Ochapa, verbatim, with no critical commentary on the validity of his statement, which boldly declared: […]
Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world with 560 women dying for every 100,000 live births. Although there has been an improvement in the past decade, it still remains unacceptably high. The North East geopolitical zone has the highest maternal mortality rate of 1,549/100,000 live births, compared to 165/100,000 live […]
Following the feedback from our story on the work of Pro Health International, we realised that very little is known by many Nigerians on what is going on in various parts of the health sector in Nigeria. We will be visiting many of these projects and programmes in the next few months to bring these […]
A hero is a person of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his/her brave deeds and noble qualities. A health system is incomplete without the people who toil daily to provide care and ensure reduction in illnesses and deaths. We call them health workers, and they are the single most important component of any health […]