Nigeria’s Under-Five Deaths Fall 17 Per Cent but Newborn Deaths Rise

ABUJA, NIGERIA  — Nigeria’s under-five mortality rate fell by about 17 per cent between 2018 and 2024, but neonatal deaths in Nigeria rose over the same period, the federal health ministry said at the 2026 National Health Promotion Day commemoration in Abuja, Premium Times reported on 30 October.

Citing the 2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, the ministry said under-five mortality fell from 132 to 110 deaths per 1,000 live births, while neonatal mortality, covering deaths in the first 28 days of life, rose from 39 to 41 per 1,000 live births. The government expressed concern over the rise.

Why neonatal deaths in Nigeria are rising

The figures mean that newborn deaths now make up a larger share of child deaths in Nigeria. Progress against diseases that kill older babies and young children, such as measles, pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria, has not been matched in the first month of life, when most deaths are linked to complications of preterm birth, problems during labour such as birth asphyxia, and infections such as sepsis.

Premium Times cited WHO data putting Nigeria’s maternal mortality ratio at 1,047 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020. A 2023 WHO progress report estimated that Nigeria recorded 82,000 maternal deaths, 181,000 stillbirths and 277,000 neonatal deaths in 2020. The combined 540,000 deaths were 12 per cent of the global total, although Nigeria accounts for about 6 per cent of the world’s live births, ranking second after India.

Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Muhammad Pate, represented by Permanent Secretary Daju Kachollom, said improving outcomes “required more than the availability of hospital services” and that “awareness campaigns alone would not produce the desired outcomes”. The theme of the day, now in its third edition, was “Health Promotion: Owning My Health”, with the campaign slogan “Take Charge, Live Well”.

Pate reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, which covers maternal and child health, primary health care, immunisation, non-communicable diseases, and HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. He cited preventive priorities including hypertension detection, hepatitis elimination through Project 365, cervical cancer prevention and screening, nutrition, immunisation and control of communicable diseases.

Speakers from development partners included Olukunle Omotoso, Oluloto Ebenezer of CARE International and the Africa Health Budget Network, according to the report.

What could reverse the trend

Most newborn deaths are preventable with known interventions. These include skilled care at birth, clean delivery practices, immediate drying and warming of the baby, early and exclusive breastfeeding, resuscitation for babies who do not breathe at birth, kangaroo mother care for small babies, and prompt treatment of infections. Many of these depend less on advanced technology than on trained staff being present when babies are born.

Reducing neonatal deaths in Nigeria will depend heavily on where women give birth. A large share of births in Nigeria still take place at home without a skilled attendant, particularly in rural areas and the north, so complications may not be recognised in time. Even in facilities, shortages of midwives, power, oxygen and equipment can limit care.

The government has introduced programmes that could help. The National Health Insurance Authority said last week that its maternal emergency care programme had treated 80,906 women across 263 facilities and its neonatal emergency care programme had reached more than 9,103 newborns, and emergency transport now operates in 171 of 172 targeted local government areas.

Antenatal care also matters. Visits during pregnancy allow health workers to detect high blood pressure, anaemia, infections and other risks that increase the chance of preterm birth or complications, and to plan where a woman should deliver.

Tackling neonatal deaths in Nigeria also depends on data. The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey is conducted every few years, so routine records from facilities and community health workers are needed to track progress in between and to identify the states and local government areas where newborn deaths are highest.

Development partners and civil society groups, including the Africa Health Budget Network, have long argued that maternal and newborn services need protected funding in state budgets, so that midwives, essential drugs such as oxytocin and antibiotics, and basic newborn equipment are available every day.

The 17 per cent fall in under-five mortality reflects real gains, likely linked to immunisation, malaria control and nutrition programmes, but the rise in newborn deaths shows where the next phase of effort must focus.

Premium Times named one development partner as UNDP while describing it as the United Nations Population Fund, which is UNFPA; the organisation could not be confirmed.

 

Why it matters: Newborn deaths are rising even as child deaths fall, so skilled birth care and emergency newborn services must become national priorities.

 

Source: Premium Times (Oluwakemi Adelagun), October 2026.