UNICEF reveals that a child born in Nigeria on January 1, 2019, is likely to live only to the year 2074 – 55 years of age.
- At current life expectancy rates, UNICEF reveals that a child born in Nigeria on January 1, 2019, is likely to live only to the year 2074 while a child born on the same day in Denmark is likely to live until the 22nd century.
- More than half of the world’s births are estimated to happen in just eight countries, including Nigeria.
- UNICEF says many African children die from preventable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia, a violation of their basic right to survival among others.
- 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
A child born in 2019 in an African country will likely not to live up to 2100 or witness the beginning of the 22nd century, according to a new report by UNICEF using World Data Lab’s (WDL) algorithm projections.
This, UNICEF said, is because most African children die from preventable causes such as premature birth, complications during delivery, and infections like sepsis and pneumonia, a violation of their basic right to survival and others.
In Nigeria alone, UNICEF estimates that 25,685 babies were born on New Year’s Day with Nigerian babies making up 6.5% of the estimated 395,072 babies born on New Year’s Day globally.More than half of the world’s births are estimated to happen in just eight countries, including Nigeria. These countries are India with 69,944, China — 44,940, Pakistan — 15,112, Indonesia — 13,256, United States — 11086, Democratic Republic of Congo – 10,053 and Bangladesh with 8,428 births.
At current life expantency rates, UNICEF reveals that a child born in Nigeria on January 1, 2019, is likely to live only to the year 2074 – 55 years of age while a child born on the same day in Denmark or a Western country is likely to live until the 22nd century.
“Only children born in three countries today have a lower life expectancy than that of Nigerian children: Central African Republic, Chad and Sierra Leone,” the report states.
Pernille Ironside, Deputy Representative, UNICEF Nigeria.
Pernille Ironside, UNICEF Nigeria’s Acting Representative, said, “We can and must do more to ensure that children born in Nigeria survive their first day of life – and are able to survive and thrive for many months and years to come.”
“In Nigeria today, only one out of every three babies is delivered in a health centre, decreasing a newborn baby’s chance of survival.
This is just one of the issues that need to be addressed in order to improve the chances of survival of those babies born today and every day,” Pernille said.
Some Sub-Saharan Africa countries and expected years a child born in 2019 can live untill
- Angola – 2081
- Congo- 2085
- Ethiopia – 2086
- Ghana – 2083
- Kenya – 2087
- Nigeria – 2074
- South Africa – 2083
- Uganda – 2080
- Egypt – 2091
- Rwanda – 2087
As the world plans to mark the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF urged governments and Africa leaders to among other things, take measures to save every child by providing good quality health care.
