The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, has revealed that about 280,000 newborn babies die within the first 28 days of life in Nigeria each year due to complications arising from prematurity.
Pate made the disclosure on Wednesday in Abuja during a press briefing to mark the 2025 World Pneumonia and Prematurity Days. The event also featured the launch of the Nigerian Child Survival Action Plan and the National Birth Defect Surveillance Guideline.
According to the minister, Nigeria also records about 162,000 childhood deaths annually linked to pneumonia, underscoring the urgent need for stronger child health interventions across the country.
This year’s World Prematurity Day is themed “Give Preterm Babies a Strong Start for a Brighter Future,” while the World Pneumonia Day carries the theme “Child Survival: Focusing on Pneumonia’s Impact as the Leading Infectious Cause of Child Death.”
Pate said the commemorations align with the goals of the Sector-Wide Approach in strengthening Nigeria’s health system to provide quality care for newborns and children under five, especially in the face of the growing challenges posed by climate change.
