The Federal Government has launched a new incentive programme aimed at increasing the utilisation of maternal and newborn healthcare services and reducing maternal and neonatal mortality across Nigeria.

The initiative, introduced under the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative, MAMII, was formally flagged off on Monday at the State House, Abuja, by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

Speaking at the event, the First Lady said the initiative represented another step towards ensuring that Nigerian children had a healthy start in life and that women did not lose their lives during childbirth.

She said the intervention was aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu administration, which places human capital development and improved health outcomes at the centre of national development.

According to her, reducing maternal and newborn deaths requires deliberate interventions to address the barriers faced by women and families in accessing essential healthcare services, particularly during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.

Senator Tinubu also called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, healthcare providers, development partners, communities and other stakeholders to ensure that interventions produced measurable improvements in maternal and newborn survival.

She said the incentives under MAMII would complement existing government efforts to improve access to quality maternal and newborn services, strengthen healthcare delivery and encourage more women to utilise available services.

The First Lady stressed that reducing maternal and neonatal mortality must remain a national priority, noting that every preventable death represented a loss that the country must collectively work to prevent.

She also commended the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, and his team for their commitment to improving the country’s health sector.

“It’s been a joy working with you. You work so passionately, even if people don’t know, not just locally but internationally. And what you have brought to this table has made it easy for me to do the job whenever you come, even no matter how tired I get. God bless you,” she said.

She added, “Your team too, it’s quite infectious. All of them are just there doing what is needful for Nigerians. I want to sincerely applaud you and thank you for all that you do.”

60,000 WOMEN BENEFIT FROM FREE C-SECTIONS — PATE

In his remarks, 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.

He said the intervention was focused on strengthening primary healthcare facilities, improving human resources, ensuring the availability of essential commodities and addressing the affordability of healthcare services.

Pate stressed that pregnancy was not a disease and that no woman should lose her life while giving birth.

The minister disclosed that 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.

According to Pate, the incentives being introduced under MAMII are designed to encourage pregnant women to access antenatal care, skilled birth attendance and other essential maternal health services.

He also emphasised the importance of maternal nutrition, including multiple micronutrient supplementation, and linked the intervention to the Community Food Bank Initiative.

Pate said well-nourished mothers were essential to developing the human capital required to drive Nigeria’s future development.

The Coordinating Minister urged state governments and Commissioners for Health to sustain and expand the gains recorded under MAMII, noting that state authorities were closer to communities and had a critical role to play in improving health outcomes.

NIGERIA ACCOUNTS FOR 29% OF GLOBAL MATERNAL DEATHS — SALAKO

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, said Nigeria’s maternal mortality burden remained unacceptably high.

Salako, citing the 2023–24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, said a Nigerian woman faced approximately a one-in-19 lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes.

He added that Nigeria accounted for close to 29 per cent of global maternal deaths, describing the situation as an urgent public health challenge requiring sustained and targeted interventions.

The minister said MAMII, launched by the Federal Government in November 2024, targets 172 Local Government Areas across 33 states.

According to him, the targeted LGAs represent about 20 per cent of the country’s LGAs but account 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 providing free, timely and comprehensive care to about 2.9 million pregnant women.

Salako disclosed that more than 250 health facilities were currently implementing MAMII in states including Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Ogun.

He said more than 32,000 women and 1,700 newborns had already benefited from emergency obstetric and neonatal care under the initiative.

The minister 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 those transported.

He further disclosed that fourth-visit antenatal care attendance in MAMII LGAs had increased by 20 per cent within one quarter.

According to Salako, the new incentives are intended to reinforce behaviours that can save lives, particularly early antenatal registration, facility-based delivery and postnatal follow-up.

He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that preventable maternal and newborn deaths were reduced across the country.

Pate and Salako commended President Bola Tinubu, the First Lady, health sector agencies, state governments and development partners, including UNICEF, UNFPA, USAID and the World Health Organisation, for their support.

They reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to accelerating interventions aimed at reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths.

The initiative is expected to increase demand for and utilisation of essential maternal and newborn healthcare services while supporting health facilities and frontline workers to provide timely and quality care.