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Nigeria flagged off the MAMII incentives initiative, distributing 215,000 Mama Kits and other items to vulnerable pregnant women, as officials cited high maternal mortality and outlined goals to reduce deaths by 2028.
Nigeria has launched a fresh package of incentives to increase the use of maternal and newborn health care services, as the Federal Government intensifies efforts to reduce preventable deaths among mothers and babies.
The initiative, under the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), was flagged off on Monday in Abuja. The package includes the distribution of 215,000 Mama Kits and bags, 40,000 maternal food support packs and 40,000 sets of essential newborn clothing to vulnerable pregnant women. The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, said the intervention aimed to ensure every Nigerian child has a healthy start in life and that no woman dies while giving birth.
Tinubu said pregnancy and childbirth should be moments of hope and joy, but social, economic, cultural and logistical barriers still prevent many women from accessing quality maternal healthcare. She said the maternal food support recognises the importance of a mother's nutrition to a healthy pregnancy, safe delivery and healthy newborn, while the newborn clothing symbolises the government's commitment to welcoming every child with dignity, warmth and care.
The First Lady said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare plans to extend the distribution of food support packs and newborn clothing to additional local government areas with low uptake of MAMII incentives. She urged state and local governments, traditional and religious leaders, development partners, philanthropists and other stakeholders to ensure the incentives reach women in underserved communities.
Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Adekunle Salako, said Nigeria faces one of the world's most severe maternal mortality crises. Citing the 2023-24 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey, he said a Nigerian woman faces about a one-in-19 lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes, compared with one in 4,900 in the world's most developed countries.
Salako added that Nigeria accounts for close to 29 per cent of global maternal deaths, describing the situation as one of the country's most sobering public health challenges. He said MAMII, launched in November 2024, targets 172 local government areas across 33 states, representing only about 20 per cent of the country's LGAs but accounting for 55 per cent of maternal deaths.
The Federal Government is targeting a 30 per cent reduction in maternal mortality and a 20 per cent reduction in neonatal mortality by 2028, with plans to reach 2.9 million pregnant women with free, timely and comprehensive care. Salako noted that early results were encouraging, with more than 32,000 women and 1,700 newborns already benefiting directly from emergency obstetric and neonatal care.
He disclosed that nearly 79,000 beneficiaries, about 60 per cent of them pregnant women, had been transported to healthcare facilities through the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System, while antenatal care attendance in MAMII areas had increased significantly. Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Osagie Pate, said the government is addressing maternal mortality from both the supply and demand sides.
Pate said efforts include strengthening primary healthcare facilities, providing skilled personnel and commodities, improving emergency referral systems and reducing financial barriers to care. He disclosed that more than 60,000 women had received free Caesarean sections and other emergency obstetric services through the National Health Insurance Authority in the last two years. He also said more than 120,000 frontline health workers had been retrained, while over 3,000 healthcare facilities had been revitalised and hundreds equipped with essential materials.
According to him, more than 6,000 women suffering from obstetric fistula had also received corrective treatment and empowerment support. Pate stated that nutrition remained central to maternal and newborn survival, noting that the government was linking maternal nutrition interventions with the First Lady's Community Food Bank initiative. He said, Pregnancy is not a disease, but yet many mothers lose their lives in the course of delivering life. We need to intensify and accelerate ongoing interventions.
The World Health Organisation Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Pavel Ursu, commended the initiative but cautioned that incentives alone would not solve the maternal mortality crisis. He said women must find quality, safe and respectful care when they arrive at health facilities, backed by trained health workers, essential medicines and supplies and functioning referral systems. Ursu said, Every mother matters, every newborn deserves a healthy, safe start in life.
He stressed that primary healthcare remains critical because it brings lifesaving services closer to families, builds trust and connects communities to the wider health system. He called for a review of maternal and perinatal deaths, with lessons acted upon quickly. Ursu also urged stakeholders to ensure no woman is left behind, particularly women in rural communities, adolescent girls, women living in poverty and families in underserved areas.
He stressed the importance of state and local ownership and sustainable domestic financing, saying lasting progress must be rooted in Nigerian institutions, ownership and accountability. Uche Amaonwu, Nigeria Country Director at the Gates Foundation, said the ultimate measure of the initiative should be whether more mothers and babies survived and fewer deaths from preventable causes were recorded.
He said the initiative is important because it encourages pregnant women to attend antenatal care, deliver safely with skilled birth attendants and receive needed care. Amaonwu said the Mama Kits, bags and newborn items would help encourage women to use health facilities and access essential services. He said improving maternal and newborn health is central to the Gates Foundation's work, noting that one of its aspirations is that no mother or child should die from a preventable cause.
He pledged continued collaboration with the Nigerian government and other partners. On financing, Ipalibo Banigo, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health (Secondary and Tertiary), said sustainable domestic financing is essential to strengthening primary healthcare and improving health outcomes. She said the National Health Insurance Act had provided for a Vulnerable Group Fund to provide health insurance coverage for children under five, pregnant women, internally displaced persons, persons with disabilities and retirees.
Banigo said budgetary provision had been made for the fund in 2023 and 2024, describing it as an important step toward expanding financial protection for vulnerable Nigerians. She said members of the 10th National Assembly had pursued measures to strengthen sustainable domestic health financing, including a proposal to increase the Basic Health Care Provision Fund allocation from one per cent to two per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
She also referred to efforts to amend the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage-related legislation and the Customs and Excise framework to generate resources for screening, treatment and prevention of non-communicable diseases. She stressed that for health financing to produce meaningful results, funds must not only be appropriated but also released, disbursed, accounted for and monitored.
Banigo pledged the Senate Committee on Health's commitment to follow up on the utilisation of health funds to ensure they translate into improved services and better outcomes for Nigerians. She said the reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda for Health were designed to improve the health and well-being of Nigerians, save lives and strengthen public confidence in the health system.
The speakers agreed on the need to move beyond simply increasing the number of women accessing health facilities to ensuring that the services they receive are timely, affordable, safe and of good quality. The event also underscored the importance of partnership, with the First Lady calling for collaboration to reach women in underserved communities.
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GuardianNigeria:Remi Tinubu flags off fresh incentives to curb maternal, newborn deathsThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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