Tunji Adedeji
The National Population Commission (NPC) has commenced data collection for the 2019 Verbal And Social Autopsy Survey (VASA) across Imo State.
Briefing newsmen at the NPC state office in Owerri on Friday, the Honourable Federal Commissioner of the National Population Commission, Prof .Uba Nnebue explained that the survey seeks to gather data to determine the cause and contributory factor to deaths in children aged 0-5.
The NPC boss who is also a professor of Law and former Commissioner of Education in the state said the exercise which is from the period of 19th October to 18th December, 2019 is holding in the state and across the 36 states of the federation and FCT.
He decried the prevalence of under-5 mortality in the country with an average of132 deaths per1000 births.
According to the NPC boss “The objectives of the survey includes the provision of up-to-date information in early childhood mortality rate, estimation of the prevalence, determination of cultural/ behavioural/social and health system factors of neonatal, infant and under- investment mortality using the 2011 Nigeria Demographic Health Survey(NDHS) households,”
Prof Nnebue further pointed out that the survey is the second one in the series conducted by the commission after the first that was conducted in 2014.
The erudite scholar also noted that the outcome of the survey will provide national and zonal estimates of the major causes of under – investment mortality in Nigeria from 2013 to 2018.
He opined that the survey will make available patterns of care-seeking, social factors, and interventions received as related to deaths in children less than five years of age, along with qualitative narratives off actors associated with these patterns.
He expressed the commission’s commitment to generating data to aid planning in the health sector, adding that efforts have been put in place to ensure successful implementation of the survey.
His words, “as the only agency of government with the constitutional mandate of generating and providing demographic data for planning purposes,the NPC in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of health and other key ministries ,departments and agencies is conducting the 2019 VASA survey to assist policy makers with reliable data and formulated policies for the health sector in relation to maternal and child health in Nigeria.”
