By Fatima Saka
The Federal Government has begun a new incentive programme targeting about 2.9 million pregnant women in high-burden communities as part of efforts to curb Nigeria’s persistently high maternal and neonatal mortality rates.
The intervention, launched on Monday in Abuja under the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), is designed to encourage early antenatal registration, facility-based deliveries and postnatal care, particularly in communities where access and utilisation of maternal health services remain low.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said Nigeria accounts for close to 29 per cent of global maternal deaths, while a woman in the country faces about a one-in-19 lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes.
Salako disclosed this in his welcome remarks at the flag-off of the incentives, launched at the State House, Abuja, by the First Lady, Sen. Oluremi Tinubu.
He said the 2023–24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey findings underscored the urgency of sustained interventions to reverse the country’s maternal mortality burden.
According to him, MAMII, launched by the Federal Government in November 2024, targets 172 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across 33 states, representing about 20 per cent of the country’s LGAs but accounting for approximately 55 per cent of maternal deaths.
He said the initiative aims to reduce maternal mortality by 30 per cent and neonatal mortality by 20 per cent in the targeted areas by 2028, while ensuring free, timely and comprehensive care for about 2.9 million pregnant women.
Salako said more than 250 health facilities were currently implementing the programme in Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Ogun states, with more than 32,000 women and 1,700 newborns already benefiting from emergency obstetric and neonatal care.
He added that the National Emergency Medical Treatment and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) had transported nearly 79,000 beneficiaries to appropriate care, with pregnant women accounting for about 60 per cent of the beneficiaries.
The minister also disclosed that fourth-visit antenatal care attendance in MAMII LGAs had increased by 20 per cent within one quarter.
He explained that the new incentives were intended to reinforce behaviours capable of saving maternal and newborn lives, particularly early antenatal care, skilled birth attendance and postnatal follow-up.
Earlier, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said MAMII was developed under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative to address both the supply and demand sides of maternal healthcare.
Pate said the intervention was focused on strengthening primary healthcare facilities, human resources, essential commodities and affordability of services.
He stressed that pregnancy was not a disease and that no woman should die while giving birth.
The minister said more than 60,000 women had received free Caesarean sections and other emergency obstetric services through the National Health Insurance Authority, while more than 120,000 frontline health workers had been retrained.
He added that thousands of healthcare facilities had been revitalised, while more than 6,000 women affected by obstetric fistula had received corrective treatment and empowerment support.
Pate said the incentives would complement existing interventions by encouraging pregnant women to access antenatal care, skilled delivery and other essential maternal and newborn services.
He also emphasised the importance of maternal nutrition, including multiple micronutrient supplementation, noting that well-nourished mothers were essential to building the human capital required for Nigeria’s future.
The Coordinating Minister urged state governments and Commissioners for Health to sustain and expand the gains recorded under MAMII, stressing that states were closer to communities and therefore had a critical role in improving maternal and newborn health outcomes.
Speaking at the event, the First Lady said the intervention represented another important step towards ensuring that every Nigerian child had a healthy start in life and that no woman lost her life during childbirth.
She said the initiative was aligned with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its emphasis on human capital development and improved health outcomes.
Sen. Tinubu called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, healthcare providers, development partners and communities to ensure that interventions produced measurable improvements in maternal and newborn survival.
She commended Pate and his team for their commitment to improving healthcare delivery.
“It’s been a joy working with you. You work so passionately, even if people don’t know, not just locally but internationally,” she said, adding that the minister’s ideas had made her work easier.
She also praised officials in the health ministry, describing their commitment to serving Nigerians as “infectious.”
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The First Lady stressed that every preventable maternal or newborn death represented a loss Nigeria must collectively work to avert.
Pate and Salako commended President Tinubu, the First Lady, health sector agencies, state governments and development partners, including UNICEF, UNFPA, USAID and WHO, for supporting efforts to reduce preventable maternal and newborn deaths.
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