Bauchi, Jigawa lead in Nigeria’s rate of teenage girls giving birth
The highest rates of young women aged 15-19 years giving birth to children in Nigeria are to be found in Bauchi and Jigawa States.
In a report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), 166 out of every 1000 adolescent girls in Bauchi State carry pregnancy and give birth to children while in Jigawa State, the adolescent birth rate is 156 of every 1000.
The Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) and National Immunisation Coverage Survey (NICS) 2021/2022 Report prepared by Unicef and obtained by Daily Post Thursday, indicates that the lowest adolescent birth rates are registered in Lagos (22 out of every thousand), and Anambra (16).
The report puts the national average adolescent birth rate at “75 births per 1000 women aged 15-19 years,” which the report describes as a decrease of 38 percent from five years ago.
Relatedly, the Unicef/MICS Survey report says 30 percent of young women, on a national average scale, get married off before they are 18 years old, a reality most prevalent in Bauchi (74%) and Jigawa (72%), and least so in Enugu (4%) and Lagos (3%).
On children vaccination performance, Unicef/MICS reports that 18% of children 12-23 months old did not receive any vaccinations (in 2021 when the survey was conducted), a trend which the report says is a relative decrease of 55% from five years ago.
According to the report, “the smallest proportions of children who did not receive any vaccinations are found in Enugu (1%) and Ebonyi (0%),” while the highest percentage is found in Sokoto State (51%).
