Federal ministry of health unveils four-point agenda of health sector to reduce maternal deaths in Nigeria

The Federal ministry of Health under the leadership of the Coordinating minister of Health and Social Welfare, has unveiled the four-point agenda of the health sector as part of efforts geared towards reversing the ugly indices in alarming rates of maternal deaths.

According to a statement released by the ministry, reducing maternal mortality is without a doubt priority for the Federal Government as being pregnant in Nigeria should be a risk. Consequently, the ministry of health is focused on significantly reducing the rate of maternal mortality by 2024.

The four-point agenda

• Improve governance
• Improve population health outcomes
• Unlocking healthcare value chain
• Provide health security for all Nigerians.

The ministry’s target is to adequately increase human resource for health. Currently, the ministry is building capacity of 120,000 frontline health workers and part of the training includes skills on essential reproductive health care and other interventions.

Correspondingly, Dr. Tunji Alausa, health minister of state health and social welfare, at the 2023 Gender Inclusion Summit, explained that the federal ministry of health is improving sector wide coordination, especially with its development partners which is key to ensure funds and resources are accurately spent, and used to improve the wellbeing of mothers and women in Nigeria.

He added that the federal health ministry will further the implementation of more sustainable programs, policies, increase awareness, training programs and design a national digital platform to support its current healthcare professionals.

What you should know

Available data shows that 1 in 22 Nigerian women die annually from pregnancy related causes.

According to World Health Organisation, in 2017, Nigerian’s maternal mortality rate was estimated to be 917 per 100,000 live births. It increased by nearly 14% in 2022 to reach 1047 deaths.