By Iyemah David
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Coordination Office have taken a significant step toward addressing maternal mortality in Nigeria.
They convened a strategic meeting aimed at advancing the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation and Initiatives (MAMII) Project.
The meeting, held in Abuja on Wednesday, focused on strengthening collaboration, defining key responsibilities, and mapping out an effective implementation strategy for the project.
The initiative is designed to enhance maternal health services and reduce preventable deaths among pregnant women.
Director-General of NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, emphasised the importance of leveraging health insurance schemes to improve access, affordability, and quality of maternal healthcare.
He added that sustainable financing mechanisms would be crucial to ensuring the long-term success of the initiative.
According to him, integrating the MAMII Project into NHIA’s health insurance framework will help ensure that more pregnant women, especially in underserved communities, can access essential maternal care without financial hardship.
The next step will involve finalising the operational roadmap for MAMII’s rollout.
This will include enhancing monitoring and evaluation frameworks to track progress and engaging key stakeholders, such as healthcare providers, policymakers, and donors to ensure a coordinated approach.
The MAMII Project is expected to significantly contribute to the country’s maternal health goals under the Sustainable Financing for Health framework.
