By Muhammad Amaan
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, says more than 60,000 Nigerian women have benefited from free Caesarean sections and other emergency obstetric services in the last two years.
He said this on Monday in Abuja, at the national flag-off of incentives under the Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Initiative (MAMII).
The Minister said that the intervention was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to accelerate the reduction of maternal and newborn deaths.
“MAMII is a targeted initiative designed to address maternal and newborn mortality in high-burden areas.
“This is by improving access to quality services, strengthening health facilities and addressing financial and other barriers preventing women from using available services,” he said.
Prof. Pate said the initiative was born out of the need for a concerted national response to maternal mortality.
According to him, pregnancy is not a disease, and no woman should lose her life while giving birth.
“Pregnancy is not a disease, but many mothers lose their lives in the course of delivery,” he said.
The minister said that MAMII was designed to connect interventions on the supply side of healthcare with those on the demand side.
“The supply-side interventions cover the availability of skilled human resources, medicines and other commodities, equipment, procedures and functional health facilities.
“The demand side focuses on affordability and encouraging women to utilise available maternal and newborn health services,” he said.
Pate said that in 2023, President Bola Tinubu unveiled the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and directed stakeholders to focus on improving population health outcomes through collaboration among the Federal Government, states and local governments.
He said the Federal Government subsequently worked with states and other stakeholders to develop a compact and organise institutions around agreed health priorities, with maternal mortality identified as one of the major challenges confronting the country.
The minister said MAMII had recorded significant progress, noting that more than 60,000 women had received free Caesarean sections and other emergency obstetric services through the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).
He said that more than 120,000 frontline health workers had been retrained through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).
Prof. Pate said almost 4,000 primary healthcare facilities had been revitalised or were undergoing revitalisation, while hundreds of facilities had been equipped and thousands stocked with essential medical commodities.
He also said more than 6,000 women had received treatment for obstetric fistula under the emergency obstetric fistula programme.
The beneficiaries were not only treated but also empowered to enable them rebuild their lives after treatment.
“The results are there. Now we need to intensify, accelerate and communicate those results more,” he said.
He said the incentives being flagged off were intended to further encourage pregnant women to seek antenatal care and deliver with skilled birth attendants.
He said maternal nutrition was also a critical component of the intervention, stressing that an undernourished mother was more likely to have poor outcomes for her child.
The minister highlighted the importance of multiple micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women, and said the initiative would complement broader food and nutrition interventions being championed by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
He said improving maternal nutrition was essential to building the human capital required for Nigeria’s development.
Pate, however, said that the Federal Government’s interventions alone would not be sufficient to end maternal and newborn deaths.
He urged state governments and commissioners of health to take ownership of the interventions and expand them to communities.
He specifically appreciated the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) and other development partners for supporting Nigeria’s efforts to improve maternal and newborn health.
