Issues with MCH in Nigeria and Various Strategies for Addressing the Identified Issues

A Critical Evaluation of Maternal and Child Health Issues in Nigeria
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Table of Contents
I.Introduction 
2.Access and Utilization of MCH in Nigeria 
2.1. Factors influencing Access to and Utilization of MCH
2.2.Strategies for Improving Access and Utilization of MCH
3.Maternal and Child Mortality 
3.1.Maternal Mortality 
3.1.1.Factors that Cause/ Contribute to Maternal Deaths 
3.2.Child Mortality 
3.2.1.Factors that Cause/ Contribute to Child Mortality 
3.2.2.Trends in Child Mortality in Nigeria 
3.3.Maternal and Child Survival Strategies 
4.Health Workers’ Attitude 
4.1.Factors Contributing to Health Workers’ Negative Attitudes
4.2.Strategies for Improving Health Workers’ Attitude
5.Data Management Issues 
6.Government’s Role in Improving MCH 
6.1.Surveillance and Response Efforts 
6.2.Funding 
7.Conclusion 
References
* Introduction
Maternal and child health (MCH) remains a global challenge and an important issue in public health. The need to promote effective MCH has gained global prominence over the last few decades. Specifically, promoting effective MCH is one of the priorities of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) (Kalipeni et al., 2017). The goal is to promote well-being and health for all, and this cannot be achieved without effective MCH. Poor MCH contributes to high mortality rates for mothers, infants, and children aged below 5 years. While promoting MCH is a global challenge, the challenge is more significant in African countries, such as Nigeria. According to Okigbo et al. (2017), countries in Africa bear the heaviest burden of maternal mortality. Nigeria, in particular, faces great challenges in promoting effective MCH had the highest number of maternal deaths globally in 2015. In 2010, it had the second-highest number of maternal deaths globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) (Sageer et al., 2019). In addition to maternal deaths, child mortality in Nigeria continues to be an alarming public health issue. Adewusi and Nwokocha (2018) indicate that every year, about 20% of Nigerian children die before they reach five years old. This indicates that Nigeria is in a continuous struggle with MCH issues. This is not to say that there has been no progress in addressing MCH. According to Okigbo et al. (2017), there has been a 40% decline in the rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria between 1990 and 2015. However, this progress is slow and insufficient in achieving the SDG priority in ending maternal and child mortality. There are many MCH issues in Nigeria that need to be addressed to reduce maternal and child mortality and improve the overall health of this specific population. This paper critically examines some of the issues with MCH in Nigeria with a special focus on access and utilization, mortality and mortality index, health workers attitude, data management, government and funding efforts, as well as the various strategies for addressing the identified issues.
1 Access and Utilization of MCH in Nigeria
To promote effective MCH, mothers and their children need access to quality healthcare serv...