A recent health economics assessment conducted by the Improving Nigeria’s Capacity to Use Data of Registered Stillbirths for Decision-making, otherwise known as the SPEED project has shown that Nigeria has lost approximately $885,023.65 to stillbirth annually in the last 10 years.
The study which was conducted by the International Research Centre of Excellence (IRCE) at the Institute of Human Virology in Nigeria (IHVN), also revealed that no fewer than 404,305 stillbirths occurred between 2014 and 2023 as northwest faces twice the national rate and one in every four pregnancies ended up in stillbirth in Nigeria.
The northwestern states of Zamfara and Katsina contributed the highest of 53 stillbirths per 1000 births and 52 per 1000 births respectively while the southwestern states of Ogun and Osun recorded the lowest of less than 12 per live 1000 births respectively.
In other regions 11 out of 37 states in Nigeria contributed above national coverage as 61 per cent of stillbirths are macerated(preventable with timely care).
The report, however, recommended that quality healthcare and community empowerment are needed to reduce stillbirth numbers in Nigeria.
It also called for presidential assent on the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) Act and tasked the Federal Government to increase funding for maternal healthcare services in Nigeria.
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