Stakeholders in the health sector of Bauchi State have raised alarm over the high and raising rate of neo-natal deaths in health facilities in the state.
The stakeholders are calling on the concerned health authorities to immediately act to stem the tide.
The health stakeholders who met on Tuesday during the USAID IHP Bauchi Quarterly Review meeting expressed shock that in the month of August 2022, the General Hospital Alkaleri alone recorded 12 neo-natal deaths a report that is alarming.
The stakeholders identified irregular visit to health facilities by the pregnant women for antenatal and postnatal checks as the major problem leading to the rising cases of neo-natal deaths.
They also identified incomplete treatment of malaria and diarrhea in children as other causes, calling for urgent action by the State Ministry of Health as well as the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency and other health related agencies.
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Though the statistics seemed alarming, the stakeholders agreed that it is an indication that data collation and transmission to the appropriate data agencies has positively improved in the state due to activities and support from international development partners including the USAID IHP.
The stakeholders also posited that the development has exposed the inadequacies such as lack of manpower and increased demand while supply has decreased in most of the health facilities across the state.
They urged the state government to urgently rise up to the occasion by doing everything humanly and technically possible to improve the situation in order to ensure that people particularly in the rural areas get unhindered access to quality healthcare delivery services.
All the partner agencies made presentations on the progress made so far in fourth quarter of the operations of USAID IHP in the state with the view of planning for the next quarter.
