Saving Newborn lives in Nigeria: Situation analysis and action plan for newborn health

Nigeria is off track to meet Millennium Development Goal 4 – a two-thirds reduction in child mortality by 2015. This situation analysis identifies newborn health and the continuum of care as the foundations of a strong health systems approach. Nearly one million children die before the age of five years in Nigeria. One quarter of all under-five deaths are newborns – 241,000 babies each year. This second edition of Saving Newborn Lives in Nigeria is led by the Federal Ministry of Health and endorsed by 13 professional associations and programmes. It identifies newborn health and the continuum of care – through adolescence, pregnancy, childbirth, the postnatal period and childhood – as the foundation of a strong health systems approach.