Leading causes of childhood mortality in selected communities in northern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: As part of the bid to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for children, the Sustainable Development Goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015. Reports show that economically and socially deprived neighbourhoods have an increased risk of under-five mortality. Objectives: To describe the causes of childhood deaths in selected communities in Nigeria. Methods: Four states namely, Borno, Kwara, Plateau, and Sokoto states representing three geopolitical zones of Nigeria were included in the study. Two local governments were randomly selected in each state. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was employed to carry out this survey. Pre-coded questionnaires were used to collect data from care givers. Results: The three leading causes of death among under-fives in the Borno State was diarrhoea, measles and sudden death, in the Kwara State was asphyxia, diarrhoea, cough; in Sokoto it was diarrhoea, cough and asphyxia, and in the Plateau State it was diarrhoea, acute respiratory illness and malaria. Conclusions: Diarrhoea was consistently the leading cause of death, followed by pneumonia and asphyxia, which are largely preventable. Surprisingly, with the exception of the Plateau State, malaria was not listed amongst the three leading causes of death in the communities under study.

Keywords

• children
• community
• mortality
• nigeria
• under-five