More than 60,000 Nigerian women have benefited from free Caesarean sections and other emergency obstetric services in the past two years under Federal Government interventions aimed at reducing maternal and newborn deaths.
Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja at the national flag-off of incentives under the Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Initiative (MAMII).
Pate said MAMII was designed to address maternal and newborn mortality in high-burden areas by improving access to quality healthcare, strengthening health facilities and removing financial and other barriers preventing women from accessing essential services.
“Pregnancy is not a disease, but many mothers lose their lives in the course of delivery,” he said, stressing that no woman should die while giving birth.
According to the minister, the initiative combines supply-side interventions, including skilled health workers, medicines, equipment and functional health facilities, with demand-side measures aimed at making maternal healthcare affordable and encouraging women to use available services.
He said more than 60,000 women had received free Caesarean sections and other emergency obstetric services through the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
Pate added that more than 120,000 frontline health workers had been retrained through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), while nearly 4,000 primary healthcare facilities had either been revitalised or were undergoing rehabilitation.
He said hundreds of health facilities had also been equipped and thousands supplied with essential medical commodities.
The minister disclosed that more than 6,000 women had received treatment for obstetric fistula under the emergency obstetric fistula programme, with beneficiaries also supported to rebuild their lives after treatment.
“The results are there. Now we need to intensify, accelerate and communicate those results more,” he said.
Pate explained that the incentives launched under MAMII were intended to encourage pregnant women to attend antenatal care and deliver their babies with skilled birth attendants.
He also identified maternal nutrition as a critical component of the programme, noting that undernourished mothers were at greater risk of poor health outcomes for themselves and their babies.
The minister highlighted the importance of multiple micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women, saying the initiative would complement broader food and nutrition programmes championed by First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu.
Pate recalled that President Bola Tinubu unveiled the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative in 2023, directing stakeholders to collaborate across federal, state and local governments to improve health outcomes.
He said maternal mortality was subsequently identified as one of the country’s major health challenges, leading to coordinated interventions involving government agencies, states and development partners.
Pate, however, stressed that Federal Government interventions alone would not be sufficient to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
He urged state governments and commissioners of health to take ownership of the programmes and expand access to maternal healthcare at the community level.
“States are closer to the people and therefore have an important role to play in sustaining the gains,” he said.
The minister also acknowledged the contributions of the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the United Nations Population Fund and other development partners to Nigeria’s maternal and newborn health programmes.
He said collaboration among agencies responsible for health financing, primary healthcare, medical commodities, regulation, blood services and emergency care had also been strengthened to improve service delivery.
Pate said progress recorded under the health sector renewal agenda showed that Nigeria was moving in the right direction but stressed the need to sustain the momentum.
“Nigeria is moving, and I urge stakeholders at the federal, state and local government levels to maintain the momentum,” he said.
He said the ultimate goal was to ensure that every woman could access quality maternal healthcare regardless of where she lived or her ability to pay, while newborns received the care needed to survive and thrive.
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