Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire
By Joseph Erunke & Chris Ochayi
ABUJA-AS part of its efforts aimed at improving the nation’s healthcare delivery, the federal government,Friday, launched the 2019 Verbal and Social Autopsy,VASA study.
The government explained that the development was to improve infant, children and maternal health through accurate, credible, verifiable and acceptable demographic and health data.
The VASA study was undertaken by the National Population Commission,NPopC,in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, and development partners, led by the United States Agency for International Development,USAID.
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Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, speaking at the official lunch and national dissemination of the report on Friday in Abuja,
said it would also assist national planning by providing up-to-date health and social indicators on under-five deaths in Nigeria, and the distribution along geopolitical zones and individual states
“The 2019 VASA report is a vital tool in the critical initiative to improve the health of infants and children and also maternal health. It is gratifying to note that the indicators from the report represent key areas of maternal healthcare women aged 15 – 49, Child Health, Nutrition and Child Mortality,” he said.
According to him,”Data generated in the survey will provide the information needed to identify key deficits and channel resources to address developmental needs, as well as monitor and evaluate progress towards meeting the goals of our Universal Health coverage agenda and of the Sustainable Development Goal 3, with regards to maternal and child health.”
Also speaking at the occasion,Minister of State for Health, Oloruninmbe Mamora, explained that the VASA survey was a follow up to the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS), where a total of 3,215 under-5 mortality cases were selected out of which 31 percent (974) were Neonates while 69 percent (2,241) were Children.
According to him, the data generated in the report would be used by policy makers and all stakeholders to design programmes of better health care delivery in the country.
“For the 2019 VASA survey, two sets of interviewing teams were sent to the field. The teams focused on responses from caregivers in the households, group discussions and in-depth interviews within the community in addition to the household interviews,” he said.
