LAGOS, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Sunday that infant mortality rate in Nigeria is unacceptably high, according to the reports of the Lagos based Daily Independent newspaper on Monday.

    Ann Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director, made this assertion at a ministerial press briefing on the 2009 World Breastfeeding and Child Health week held in Abuja.

    Veneman, who is on a working visit to the country, decried a situation where children die as a result of preventable diseases. She called on Nigerian government at all levels to show the required political will by providing healthcare with an integrated approach.

    The UNICEF executive director who is scheduled to launch the first ever bi-annual child health week, commended Nigeria for localizing the event.

    She said countries such as South Africa and Mozambique where the week is observed have experienced improved indices in child and maternal survival.

    She warned that with diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and polio ravaging families, Nigeria may not meet the 2015 target for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    According to the UNICEF official, Nigeria is the only African country recording incidents of polio.

    Veneman said the country needs all the encouragement it could get in tackling the issues confronting healthcare delivery.

    She said UNICEF would be spending an additional 5 million U.S. dollars on enlightenment programs on the danger of polio. Earlier, Nigerian Minister of Health Babatunde Osotimehin, while briefing the press, asked for support for government as it moves to create better access to healthcare.

    He said the health indices recorded in the country have witnessed a decrease in deaths and disease burden, adding that aside from ongoing efforts by government to reduce cases of childhood diseases, the Nigerian federal government is working on a health bill which if accented to, would yield 600 billion naira from the consolidated revenue account for the financing of primary healthcare.

    On the issue of malaria, the minister said Nigeria would be receiving an estimated 600 million dollars from the Global Fund and the World Bank in the next three years to fund its programs.

    He said the money already received have been used judiciously, adding that the Nigerian federal government has set a 2010 target to distribute two treated mosquito nets per family.