The 2014 Report of the World of the Health Organisation has stated that the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria currently stands at 560 deaths per 100,000 live births.
The report also revealed that one-third of all global maternal deaths were concentrated in Nigeria and India.
The Executive Director of Women Advocates’ Research and Documentation Centre, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, stated this at a roundtable in Abuja, with the theme, “Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Equality and Maternal Health.”
She said women in Nigeria still face financial, infrastructural and institutional barriers in accessing adequate maternal health care “and are still being detained for their inability to pay high user fees and lose their lives in the process.”
Akiyode-Afolabi said, “The 2014 Millennium Development Goals’ report said almost one-third of all global maternal deaths are concentrated in two populous countries: India, with an estimated 50,000 maternal deaths (17 per cent) and Nigeria, with an estimated 40,000 maternal deaths (14 per cent) while the WHO 2014 report on maternal mortality states that Nigeria’s MMR is 560 deaths per 100,000 live births.”
She lamented that Nigeria ranked 118 of 134 countries in the gender equality index, as fewer girls were enrolled in schools, compared with boys.
The gender activist also said it was worrisome that “women make up only 21 per cent of the non-agricultural paid labour force as majority of women are concentrated in casual, low-skilled, low paid informal sector employment with only 7.2 per cent of women owning land that they farm, which limits their access to credit and entrepreneurship as well as business activities.”
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