Neonatal care: UNICEF, Gombe build capacity of 104 frontline health workers
By Elizabeth Ogunjobi
The Gombe government and UNICEF have trained 104 frontline health workers to improve newborn survival amid persistently high neonatal mortality across northern Nigeria.
The two-day training covered 48 workers from secondary healthcare facilities, following a separate programme for 56 primary healthcare workers.
Dr Abdulrahman Shuaibu, Executive Secretary of the Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency, said strengthening newborn care was critical to reducing preventable deaths.
Speaking in Gombe on Thursday, Shuaibu said many babies were born in communities before being referred to secondary facilities for specialised care.
“Therefore, it is important to strengthen the capacity of healthcare workers at these facilities to provide appropriate care for newborns,” he said.
He said neonatal and infant mortality remained high in the state, requiring coordinated efforts by government, healthcare providers and development partners.
“It is our hope and prayer that this training will contribute to a significant decline in neonatal mortality across our communities,” he said.
Shuaibu urged participants to share their knowledge with colleagues who did not attend, ensuring that more facilities could deliver effective newborn care.
He said the programme complemented government efforts to upgrade primary and secondary healthcare facilities, while commending UNICEF and other development partners for their support.
Mr Oluseyi Olosunde, a UNICEF health officer at its Bauchi Field Office, said the training was organised to commemorate the 2026 World Prematurity Day.
Olosunde said the initiative focused on improving the quality of care provided to newborns, particularly premature babies and those requiring specialised attention.
“Every child deserves to live, and to make every child enjoy this right to life, the quality of care is important,” he said.
He said the training targeted nurses, midwives and doctors involved in caring for women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.
“We are training them to ensure that the mother survives, every woman survives, and every child survives,” he said.
Olosunde described newborn deaths as unacceptably high in many northern states, stressing the importance of strengthening healthcare workers’ skills.
He urged participants to apply their knowledge to improve services and protect the lives of mothers and babies under their care.
Dr Raymond Mercy, a consultant paediatrician at the Federal Teaching Hospital, Gombe, also urged healthcare workers to prioritise proper newborn care.
Mercy, a member of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria and the Nigerian Society of Neonatal Medicine, said Nigeria’s neonatal mortality rate stood between 34 and 41 deaths per 1,000 live births.
She said Nigeria had the world’s second-highest burden of neonatal mortality, underscoring the urgency of improving newborn healthcare nationwide.
