Nigeria says its ongoing health sector reforms are improving maternal healthcare delivery, with millions of pregnant women now accessing antenatal services nationwide.
The Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp), Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, disclosed this during a media briefing on the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Compact, and progress in comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care.
He said the reforms are addressing long-standing challenges in the health sector, including poor coordination, infrastructure gaps, workforce shortages, and weak accountability systems. Umar-Sadiq noted that the initiative focuses strongly on governance, stressing that improved healthcare outcomes depend not only on funding but also on how effectively the system is structured and managed.
According to him, a nationwide assessment of 774 Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) facilities revealed significant gaps in equipment and infrastructure.
He said the federal government plans to equip 251 secondary health facilities to strengthen emergency maternal and newborn services in labour wards, theatres, laboratories, and neonatal units. The intervention, he added, is aimed at improving emergency response capacity and reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths across the country.
Umar-Sadiq also said the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) is supporting demand-side interventions through reimbursements for Caesarean sections and treatment of obstetric complications.
He disclosed that 259 health facilities have been enrolled in the programme, while over 42,000 maternal and newborn care services have been reimbursed nationwide. More than 4,000 women and newborns have also benefited from free Caesarean sections.
