A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN ABIA STATE (A CASE STUDY OF FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTRE UMUAHIA FROM 1995 TO 2004)

A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF INFANT MORTALITY RATE IN ABIA STATE (A CASE STUDY OF FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTRE UMUAHIA FROM 1995 TO 2004)

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INTRODUCTION

The federal government has made significant progress in the following fields since Nigeria gained independence in 1960: agriculture, education, industries, health services, banking, among others. The government has worked to guarantee that everyone, especially women and children, has access to high-quality health services. The building of several public health institutes across the states is tangible proof of her efforts. Hospitals, health centers, clinics, maternity homes, and mobile clinics are a few examples of these. There has been an increase in public awareness of health issues recently, which has led to better organization, increased public health awareness, and changes in medical practices, among other things. However, these advancements may seem small in comparison to the scope of the issues still unresolved, particularly when it comes to infant diseases and infant mortality (Usman Sulaiman & Abubakar 2019). Mortal, according to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, refers to something that will eventually pass away. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the state of being mortal is the temporary nature of life, or the inability to live eternally. The world population has been growing in recent decades, and a stable or declining population would be considered abnormal. "Modern term of recent origin originated from the time of 1600; the increase is quite unique in any similar period," according to Berkley (1958), cited in Akpanta, Okorie, and Okoye (2015). The aforementioned remark demonstrates how ephemeral such population fluctuations are. Although health records in West African nations did not begin until the entrance of conventional medicine, it was known there before the white men did. Infant mortality was high due to the increased occurrence of fatal illnesses that harmed pregnant women's and newborns' health. Aside from the fact that our local population's hygiene, eating habits, and general health may use improvement, a lack of health infrastructure also contributed to the area's high infant death rate.

Again, Nwafor, Abali, and Nnolim (2017) demonstrated that other causes of infant mortality include well-known killer diseases of childhood, such as measles, malaria, small pox, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis, poliomyelitis, dyphytaria, and jaundice. The Nigerian government made significant contributions to the enhancement of newborn health in the late 1980s through the National Immunization Program and the Expanded Immunization Program. However currently The black fly-caused onchosochaisis epidemic is no longer present, according to current health journals "Health care," and the liming legs are rapidly going extinct.  With the help of the three-month immunization campaign from the year 2000, poliomyelitis is slated to be eradicated from the borders of our nation.

1.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The federal medical center Umuahia was built in the early 1950’s by the joint effort of the protestant churches, the Anglican, Methodist and Presbyterian churches.  The three churches agree to build a joint hospital and work together as a means and avenue of a joint Christian medical services and Christian evangelism.  Trained and qualified competent Christian ladies were generally nurses and midwifery and this created an environment for true Christian gospel and evangelism.  The hospital was first named Union Mission Joint Training Hospital.  Nurses and student nurses were drawn from hospitals named by three denominations and located at Iyi Enu Ituk Mbang and Etinagi all in Calabar to run the hospital.  Later as a mark of appreciation and courtesy to Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain when she formally and officially opened the hospital in 1956, during the regime of his excellency the governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria, Sir. Clement Plear, it was renamed Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Soon after its establishment, the hospital gained popularity and reputation, but it suffered a set back during the Nigeria civil war from 1967 – 1970 when most of the medical equipments were looted.  Moreover, indigenous missionaries could not maintain the hospital after the departure of the foreign missionaries at the end of the war.

Consequently, it management was taken over by the government, which converted it to a sepcialsit hospital by the East Central State of Nigeria Edit No 6 of 1972: with the creation of the Imo State Government, she changed the name of Ramat specialist Hospital in honour of the later Head of State General Ramat Murtala Mohammed, under the direction of Navy Captain Ndubuisi Kanu, the then military governor.  I t reverted to Queen Elizabeth hospital o the 16th December 1983, sequel to a request by the people of old Imo State.  

The hospital was again taken over by the Federal Government on 1st May, 1992 and was renamed Federal Medical Centre Umuahia.

The Federal Medical Centre Umuahia is located at Umuahia the capital of Abia State.  The hospital has ten wards, two medical wards on each for male and female, maternity wards, the pediatrics ward, two theatres, one for obstetrics and other for general surgery.  Other areas of the hospital includes: the Antenatal clinics, x – ray department, pharmacy and medical laboratories units, medical records/ statistics among others.  

The hospital has two training schools, the school of Nursing and the school of midwifery.  It has a staff strength of about 720; made up of medical doctors, Nurses, House of Officers, Laboratory Technicians and Scientists, Accounting of Officers, records Officers, Pharmacists, Administrative Officers, Attendants, among others.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

The researcher was very much worried and concerned about the alarming rate at which infants were dying in Abia State and the following statements and questions below prompted him to go into the study about the rate of infant mortality in Abia State.

1. The rate of infant mortality in Abia State was alarming.
2. The rate of infants mortality may have been more in a particular sex
3. The rate of infant’s mortality may have been caused by many factors among which disease were the chief.
4. The rate of infant’s mortality in Abia State should follow a particular trend over the years.
5. There should be some preventive measures to reduce the number of infant’s death that may occur in Abia State.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION

1. What are the major causes of infant mortality in Abia State?
2. Is there any means to compare mortality rate of infant male and female to know whether there is significant yearly difference in their mortality rate?
3. Does infant mortality rate in Abia State dependent on sex?
4. Can the trend of infant mortality in Abia State be established?
5. Are there some preventive measures to reduce the number of infants death that may occur in Abia State?

1.4 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

1. To compare mortality rate of infant male and female in order to know whether there is significant yearly difference in their mortality rate.
2. To determine whether infant mortality in Abia State is independent of sex.
3. To suggest possible preventive measures to reduce the number of infant deaths that may occur.
4. To determine the trend of the infant mortality rate.
5. Based on the findings, recommendation will be made.

1.5 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESES

This study is testing for the following hypothesis:-

H0: There is significance difference in the yearly mortality rate of infants male and female.

H1: There is not significance difference in the yearly mortality rate of infants male and female.

H0: Infant mortality in Abia State is independent of sex

H1: Infant mortality in Abia State is not independent of sex.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This project work is restricted to the federal medical center, Umuahia in Abia State.  The study covers a period of ten years from 1995 to year 2004.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The researcher was constrained to limit the study to the federal medical center Umuahia only.  This was chosen as a sample, which will be used for generalized decision making.  The study is limited in scope because the mortality rate of infants were done for only ten years study and only one hospital i.e. the federal medical center Umuahia was considered.

There is the problem of lack of adequate record keeping by the hospital; therefore retrieval of such information was made very difficult.

The peoples’ ignorance which include their not recording death of infants that took place outside the hospitals makes the report of mortality in exact which far out weigh t hose recorded in any known hospital.  Finally, lack of fund and time imposed a major limitation to this study there by limiting the study t o only one hospital and just for a period of two months only.

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