The Federal Government said it has recorded a 60 per cent reduction in maternal deaths in communities covered by its Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative, known as MAMII, between 2024 and 2026.

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the third Nigeria Health Sector Joint Annual Review. He attributed the reported reduction to improved access to skilled birth attendants, emergency referral services and maternal healthcare facilities under the initiative.

Pate said within MAMII areas, Basic Health Care Provision Fund facilities have also recorded a reduction of approximately 60 per cent in maternal case fatality between 2024 and 2026. He said the government had recruited 19,758 skilled birth attendants across 22 states and trained 78,054 frontline health workers to strengthen service delivery.

According to him, 91 per cent of Basic Health Care Provision Fund supported facilities in MAMII areas now have at least two midwives or community health extension workers, compared with 12 per cent at the beginning of the intervention.

He added that 99 per cent of the facilities were connected to emergency referral systems, while 750,000 pregnant women had been mapped and linked to functional health facilities. He disclosed that emergency transport services were operating in 171 of the initiative 172 local government areas, transporting 104,566 women and newborns.

The wider emergency referral network, he said, had deployed 1,053 transport assets and 9,050 community drivers, who had collectively transported 168,571 patients.

Pate disclosed that skilled deliveries at facilities supported by the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund increased from 4.8 million in 2023 to 7.9 million in 2026, while the number of women completing four antenatal care visits rose from six million to 8.7 million. He added that outpatient visits at the facilities increased from 32.4 million to 43 million. The improvements, he said, followed the revitalisation of 3,500 primary healthcare centres across the country, with another 900 undergoing work to expand access to essential health services.

On financial protection, the minister said nearly 100,000 free emergency maternal and newborn services had been provided under the Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care programme. He said the programme had delivered almost 100,000 services in two years, including 80,906 caesarean sections, approximately 9,100 newborn services and 6,059 vesicovaginal fistula repairs. He added that deaths resulting from obstetric emergencies had also declined by more than 20 per cent in participating facilities.

The three day review, themed Together to Higher Grounds, brings together federal and state health officials, development partners and other stakeholders to assess the implementation of Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and identify priorities for improving healthcare delivery. Pate said Nigeria had achieved all 41 presidential performance commitments in the health sector, alongside significant improvements in primary healthcare delivery, maternal and newborn survival, health insurance coverage and local pharmaceutical manufacturing.

He said the health sector transformation was anchored on the objectives of saving lives, reducing physical and financial hardship, and ensuring access to quality healthcare for all Nigerians.

For many Nigerians, the reported 60 per cent reduction will be judged by whether women in rural and hard to reach communities can now access timely care without financial barriers. The government says state governments have partnered with the Federal Government to deliver the improvements, and that sustaining the gains will require continued funding, staffing and emergency transport.

For now, Pate insists the data from MAMII areas shows that targeted investment in skilled attendants, referral systems and primary healthcare can save mothers lives.