One in every nine children born in Nigeria dies before the age of five, according to the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2024 report, signalling a public health crisis that reveals gaps in maternal and child care, experts say.
This implies that nearly 10 percent of children born in Nigeria die before their fifth birthday, based on data collected over the five years preceding 2024. Factors such as poor access to essential vaccines and severe or acute malnutrition make under-five mortality a risk to population growth.
BusinessDay analysis revealed that under-five mortality declined by 45 percent, from 201 per 1,000 live births in 2003 to 110 per 1,000 live births in 2024, signalling improvement, yet still worrying statistics.