Asphyxia, Major Cause Of Child Death -PPFN

The Director of Advocacy, Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN), Dr Okai Aku, says Asphyxia is the major cause of neonatal death in the country.
He defined Asphyxia as a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from abnormal breathing such
as choking and primarily affects  the tissues and organs
He told The Tide’s source in Abuja yesterday that “Asphyxia is the process of inhaling unacceptable
or gaseous substances detrimental to health, especially among children.”
He said that six months after delivery, a child was susceptible to infections, especially respiratory diseases.
He added that “a child can inhale gaseous substances, water or other unwanted substances through the air and this causes morbidity.
“Such morbidity and autoimmune diseases can lead to the death of the child if care is not taken.”
The public health specialist, who said that mother and child were inseparable, noted that a child could contract diseases from
five systems in the body, namely — the nervous system, gastrointestinal, respiratory, urinogenital and cardiovascular systems.
He explained that a child could be either born with infection or acquired, saying that acquired infections were divided into two
namely; vertical and horizontal.
The medical practitioner advocated pre-natal, antenatal and neonatal immunisations as veritable ways of preventing child morbidity.