Professor Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, said that 50 percent of pregnant women in Africa suffer from anaemia.
Pate, who was represented by the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Professor Lanre Adeyemo, disclosed this recently at the close-out ceremony of the IVON Clinical Trial.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supported the IVON Clinical Trial, which was carried out at 11 medical institutions in Lagos and Kano States to assess the effectiveness of intravenous or oral iron therapy for iron deficient anemia in pregnant Nigerian women.
The World Health Organization, WHO, defines Anaemia as a condition in which the number of red blood cells or the haemoglobin concentration within them is lower than normal.
The WHO defines anaemia in pregnant women as a haemoglobin concentration <110 g/L at sea level, warning that it increases the risk of maternal and child morbidity and death rates.
Already, Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with an estimated 512 deaths per 100,000 live births according to the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2018.
The minister, on behalf of President Bola Tinubu, expressed gratitude to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for funding “this laudable project.”
Pate further congratulated the Principal Investigator, Professor Bosede Afolabi and her team for a job well done.
In his words;
“Anaemia in pregnancy is highly prevalent in African countries. Globally, anaemia is the commonest medical condition affecting pregnant women and in Africa, about 50 percent of all pregnant women are affected. In Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, about three in five pregnant women have anaemia.
“The condition, which is mostly caused by iron deficiency, is associated with increased risk of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. It is recognised as a major global health problem with an indicator dedicated to tracking reduction efforts of anaemia in women 15–49 years of age, including pregnant women, added to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2020.
“Therefore, IVON clinical trial is a significant milestone in global efforts to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality, and the contributions of IVON trial team cannot be over emphasised.”
