By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Chidinma Chukwu
–FG distributes 215,000 maternal kits
…Targets 2.9m pregnant women, families by 2028

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Chidinma Chukwu

ABUJA — THE First Lady of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, on Monday, launched the distribution of incentives to pregnant women, especially those in vulnerable and underserved communities, to promote the increased use of antenatal care and other essential maternal and newborn health services.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu’s call came even as the Federal Government rolled out 215,000 MAMA kits, 40,000 maternal food-support packs and 40,000 sets of newborn clothing for vulnerable women and families nationwide.

She said the scale of the challenge among pregnant women and infants requires collective action to ensure that the interventions reached them particularly those in poor, underserved and hard-to-reach communities.

The intervention, under the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Initiative (MAMII), is aimed at removing the social, economic, cultural and logistical barriers that keep women from accessing care during pregnancy and childbirth.

Speaking at the national flag-off ceremony held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President wife said the initiative was part of efforts to ensure that Nigerian women received quality care during pregnancy and childbirth, while newborns had a healthy start to life.

She also said pregnancy and childbirth should be occasions of hope and joy rather than a threat to the lives of Nigerian women.

The incentives include, mama kits and bags, maternal food support packs and sets of essential newborn clothing.

She said: “This occasion represents a further step towards ensuring that every Nigerian child has a healthy start in life and that no woman loses her life while giving birth”.

“The intervention is being implemented under the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII) of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and is designed to encourage greater use of antenatal, delivery and postnatal services”.

According to the First Lady: “MAMII is a bold national intervention that unites key stakeholders to reduce the burden of maternal and newborn deaths by strengthening awareness, emergency care and referral systems, making safe childbirth and newborn survival the standard for every Nigerian family.

“As a mother, I believe pregnancy and childbirth should be moments of hope and joy, with every woman having access to quality care. However, social, economic, cultural, and logistical barriers still exist.
This is what makes this intervention of particular significance.

“The incentive package we launched today includes a second batch of 215,000 mama kits and bags, following the initial distribution of 110,000 kits, as well as 40,000 maternal food support packs and 40,000 sets of essential newborn clothing.”

Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who commended the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, added that the ministry would extend the distribution of the food support packs and newborn clothing to more locations identified as having low utilisation of maternal health services.

According to her, the incentives were intended to encourage women, especially those from less privileged backgrounds, to attend antenatal clinics, prepare adequately for childbirth and continue accessing essential care after delivery.

Senator Tinubu said the provision of newborn clothing reflected the administration’s commitment to ensuring that every Nigerian child was welcomed with dignity, warmth and care, while the maternal food support recognised the importance of adequate nutrition to the health of mothers, successful pregnancies, safe deliveries and healthy newborns.

She called on state and local governments, traditional and religious leaders, development partners, philanthropists and other stakeholders to support the initiative and help ensure that the incentives reached women in vulnerable and underserved communities.

“I encourage state and local governments, traditional and religious leaders, development partners, philanthropists, and other stakeholders to support this effort by ensuring incentives reach women in vulnerable and underserved communities and by increasing utilisation of maternal and newborn health services”, she added.

In his message, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said maternal mortality remained a major challenge in Nigeria, stressing the need for concerted efforts to address the problem.

“Pregnancy is not a disease, yet many mothers lose their lives. So addressing it through a concerted effort gave birth to MAMII, which is trying to connect the dots on the supply side, on the primary healthcare system, the supply of human resources, commodities, procedures, all of the supply-side efforts, as well as the demand side in terms of the affordability of those services,” Pate said.

He said the initiative had demonstrated the government’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of women and children, adding that the next phase would focus on intensifying and accelerating interventions while communicating the results achieved.

According to him, the incentives were designed to encourage women to participate actively in antenatal care and opt for skilled birth attendance as part of efforts to reduce maternal deaths.

Pate said Nigeria was making progress in maternal and newborn health but stressed the need to sustain the gains.

He urged state governments and commissioners of health to complement Federal Government interventions by expanding efforts to address challenges affecting women and children at the grassroots.

“States need to expand on these efforts. They are closer to the realities, and there are resources from the proceeds of the agro-fiscal reforms of the President that can be channeled towards the issues that affect our people greatly,” Pate said.

On his part, the Minister of State for Health Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, noted that the 2023–2024 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) revealed that about one in 19 women in Nigeria faces the risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes, underscoring the urgent need for interventions aimed at reducing maternal and newborn deaths.

He stressed that the situation requires concerted action to ensure that women, particularly those in vulnerable communities, have timely access to essential maternal healthcare services.

Dr. Salako also emphasised the need to promote and encourage early antenatal care, while addressing the social and economic barriers that may prevent women from accessing health services.

He called on families, communities and relevant stakeholders to play their part in ensuring that pregnant women receive the necessary support and care throughout pregnancy and childbirth.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ipalibo Banigo, commended the Federal Government for placing maternal and newborn survival high on its health agenda but stressed that sustained legislative and institutional support would be necessary to achieve lasting results.

She called for stronger funding of the health sector, improvement of primary healthcare facilities and wider access to emergency services, saying reducing maternal deaths required close collaboration between the executive and legislature.

World Health Organisation Country Representative, Dr Pavel Ursu, said the success of the intervention would ultimately be measured by whether it improved women’s access to quality healthcare and saved lives.

“Primary health care is so important. It brings life-saving care closer to families, builds trust and it connects communities to wider health systems”.

He urged authorities to deploy data more effectively to identify gaps and channel resources to communities with the greatest needs.

“Data should show us who is being reached, where gaps remain and where action is most important”. “Implementation will therefore matter as much as the ambition”.

Dr Pavel Ursu also advocated greater ownership and domestic financing by states, stressing that although development partners could assist the country, sustainable progress would have to be driven by Nigerian institutions.

“Lasting progress must be rooted in Nigerian institutions, budgets, and accountability”.

The WHO representative also paid tribute to healthcare workers, whose efforts, he said, remained central to translating government policies and investments into lives saved.

“Every day, often in difficult environments, they stand behind women and families at the most vulnerable moments. Their skills, dedication and compassion turn policies into lifesaving”.

Other development partners, including the World Bank, stressed the need for sustained financing, accountability and stronger health systems, noting that the distribution of material incentives must be accompanied by functional facilities, skilled personnel, effective referral systems and quality healthcare.

The Federal Government said about 642,000 pregnant women had so far been moved to healthcare facilities within their communities, while more than 85,000 women had been transported for emergency care.

It added that more than 93,000 women had benefited from free life-saving surgical procedures nationwide, with the interventions contributing to a reported 22 per cent reduction in maternal mortality in facilities equipped to provide the services.

More than 250 health facilities across Bauchi, Borno, Kaduna, Kano and Katsina states are also implementing MAMII, with over 42,000 women and 1,700 newborns said to have benefited directly from emergency obstetric and newborn care.

Nearly 79,000 beneficiaries have also been transported to health facilities, while antenatal attendance and facility deliveries reportedly increased by about 20 per cent within one quarter in areas covered by the programme.