Nigeria’s Death Statistics Is Scanty, No Record For Five Years – Ondo Health Ministry

By Ayodele Oni

A programme manager in the Ondo state ministry of health, Babatunde Alabi has said that Nigeria has no record of the dead, which is one of the reasons for improper planning in the health sector.

Alabi, who is the programme manager, Population Activities in Health and Mandatory Death Reporting, observed that since most deaths occur outside the hospitals, their cases are not recorded in mortuaries.

Addressing stakeholders in Akure, as part of activities marking the World Population Day,  Alabi stated that “only 13.5% of death in Nigeria were registered in 2007 which regressed to 10% in 2017.

“There was no data reported for Nigeria in the World Health Organization database between 2008 and 2018. This reason has necessitated the reporting for all the states in Nigeria”

According to him, the actual death record in Ondo State as at today is unknown and this, he opined, has grossly affected the health policy and health plan in the state.

He stressed the need to track death, which could only be achieved if mandatory death reporting was put in place.

Mandatory Death Reporting, Alabi explained, would ensure that every death within the state is tracked and cause of death is known.

This, he maintained, would assist the government in planning for the health of the citizens while  ensuring regulation of burial in the state to promote safe environment for the citizens.

For the category of people whose deaths are to be reported in the state, the programme officer clarified that  a person who died in the state, a person whose body was discovered in the state, and a spontaneous fetal death occurring in the state.

The Director, Public Health, Dr Stephen Fagbemi said in his  welcome address that the burial Law has been in existence since 2006, but has not been implemented, stating further that the state is ready for the enforcement of death reporting.

“It might really be challenging to track all deaths across the state but we have commenced tracking at our health institutions in the state.”

He urged all stakeholders, mortuary operators and heads of institutions to always ensure that death reports are properly filed and transmitted to appropriate quarters.

The representative of the World Health Organization, (WHO) Mr Adewale Moses said death tracking and reporting remain important and the whole world has not been generating enough and accurate data on death.