Regina Otokpa 
The Federal Government has launched the 2019 Verbal and Social Autopsy (VASA) study, witha view to improving infant, children and maternal health through accurate, credible, verifiable and acceptable demographic and health data. The VASA study was undertaken by the National Pop- ulation Commission (NPopC) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, and development partners led by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who spoke at the official lunch and national dissemination of the report yesterday in Abuja, said it would also aid national planning by providing up-todate health and social indicators on under-five deaths in Nigeria, and the distribution along geopolitical zones and individual states. He said: “The 2019 VASA report is a vital tool in the critical initiative to improve the health of infants and children and also maternal health.”
