N30m spent on maternal mortality surveillance in northern Nigeria

An estimated N30m was spent on maternal mortality surveillance across northern Nigeria in 2017.
Coordinator of Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development (SFPD), Alhaji Samaila Muhammad Mera, made the revelation Tuesday in Abuja.
Alhaji Samaila Muhammad Mera who is also the Emir of Argungu, said this in a one day review meeting with the Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Primary Healthcare on Community-based Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response in Northern Nigeria.
He said the surveillance was collaboration between the Foundation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) to accelerate the reduction of maternal mortality rate in Northern Nigeria estimated at 547 per 100, 000 births by 2013 NDHS.
He said the surveillance used ward heads to track deliveries and child development up to five months in communities on monthly basis.
He said findings contradicted data by development partners on maternal deaths in the North and causes of such deaths.
He said that in 2017, malaria was recorded as the main cause of maternal death as against haemorrhage, also known as excessive bleeding, largely cited by development partners and the data were also slightly below theirs per 1000.