The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, says more than 60,000 Nigerian women have benefited from free caesarean sections and other emergency obstetric services in the last two years.

‎Mr Pate 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 the intervention was part of the federal government’s efforts to reduce 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.

‎He said the initiative came from the need for a concerted national response to maternal mortality.

According to Mr Pate, 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 MAMII was designed to connect supply-side healthcare interventions with demand-side ones.

‎”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.

‎He 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, state 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).

‎He 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 to 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 encourage pregnant women further 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, Oluremi Tinubu.

‎He said improving maternal nutrition was essential to building the human capital required for Nigeria’s development.

‎Mr 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.

“States are closer to the people and therefore have an important role to play in sustaining the gains.

‎“All that we ask is that this effort is sustained, and states and the commissioners of health who are here take the message that it doesn’t stop with the federal government’s intervention,” he said.

‎The minister said additional resources from the Tinubu administration’s macro-fiscal reforms could be channelled into health interventions that directly affect Nigerians.

‎He urged states to use such resources to strengthen maternal and newborn health services and complement federal government investments.

‎He also acknowledged the contributions of governors, state commissioners of health, development partners, and health agencies to implementing the maternal health agenda.

‎He specifically appreciated the World Health Organisation, United Nations Children’s Fund, United Nations Population Fund and other development partners for supporting Nigeria’s efforts to improve maternal and newborn health.

‎He also commended the leadership of Mr Tinubu and the first lady for their support for health interventions.

‎He said that in October 2023, the first lady flagged off the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign, saying more than 94 per cent of eligible adolescents have subsequently been vaccinated.

‎He described the achievement as significant in efforts to reduce the future burden of cervical cancer.

‎The minister also acknowledged the first lady’s support for frontline health workers, including the provision of scrubs and other work-related items, as well as community support interventions.

‎He called on stakeholders to communicate progress in the health sector more effectively so Nigerians can understand the interventions and take advantage of available services.

Mr ‎Pate said the government had also strengthened collaboration among agencies responsible for health financing, primary healthcare, commodities, regulation and emergency services to ensure that the various interventions worked together.

‎He commended officials of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and its agencies for working with states and development partners to implement the reforms.

‎He particularly recognised the work of the NPHCDA, NHIA and other agencies involved in strengthening primary healthcare, financing emergency obstetric care and improving access to essential commodities.

‎He also acknowledged efforts to strengthen blood services and regulate maternal health products to ensure that medicines and other products used in maternal care were safe and of the required quality.

‎The minister said the progress recorded under the health sector renewal agenda demonstrated that Nigeria was moving in the right direction, but stressed that the gains must be sustained.

‎“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 objective was to ensure women could access quality maternal healthcare, regardless of where they lived or their ability to pay, while ensuring newborns received the care required to survive and thrive.

‎He urged all stakeholders to intensify their efforts, communicate the available services to communities and work collectively towards reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths in Nigeria.

(NAN)