Thirty female medical students from across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones have received scholarships under a new initiative aimed at improving women’s health outcomes and strengthening female representation in the country’s health sector.
The beneficiaries were selected under the inaugural National Medical Students Scholarship of the Built for Her Foundation, a non-profit organisation launched on Saturday in Abuja. The scholarship programme is being implemented in partnership with the Nigerian Medical Students’ Association (NiMSA).
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The launch event brought together government officials, health professionals and medical students, with speakers highlighting the link between women’s health outcomes and the participation of women in healthcare delivery, research and leadership.
Speaking at the event, the foundation’s founder, Teniola Saraki, said the initiative was created in response to long-standing gaps in how women’s health needs are understood, researched and prioritised in policy and investment.
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Ms Saraki noted that the foundation was also established with a belief that women and girls deserve a world built with them in mind.
“Women’s health shapes not only individual wellbeing but also families, communities, productivity and national development,” she said.
She added women’s health extends beyond reproductive care to include cancers, cardiovascular diseases, mental health conditions, autoimmune disorders and chronic illnesses that often present differently in women and are frequently underdiagnosed or poorly treated.
Evidence of a widening gap
Ms Saraki cited a 2024 analysis by the McKinsey Health Institute, which found that women globally spend 25 per cent more of their lives in poor health than men, amounting to an average of nine additional years lived with illness or disability.
According to the report, gaps in research, data and access to effective care account for tens of millions of disability-adjusted life years lost annually, largely because women are underrepresented in clinical trials and health interventions are not designed with sex and gender differences in mind.
She said, “These gaps are not inevitable. They are the result of how health systems have been designed and can be addressed through intentional design, sustained investment and collaboration.”
She added that Nigeria reflects some of the most severe consequences of the gender health gap, noting that the country records one maternal death every seven minutes and accounts for nearly 29 per cent of global maternal deaths in 2023, with an estimated 75,000 women dying from pregnancy-related causes that year.
She also highlighted Nigeria’s cervical cancer burden, where more than 7,000 women died in 2023, despite the disease being largely preventable through screening and vaccination.
She added that fewer than 11 per cent of Nigerian women have ever been screened for cervical cancer.
Mental health, equity and women doctors
Delivering her keynote address, the National President of the Medical Women’s Association, Zainab Mohammad-Idris, said improving women’s health outcomes in Nigeria requires moving beyond medicine to address equity, leadership and structural support for women, particularly in the health workforce.
Ms Mohammad-Idris said the conversation around women’s health is not about medicine alone but about the systems it operates from, intentional investment, and what happens when women are supported or ignored.
According to her, evidence shows that women are more likely to seek care early, disclose health concerns, and adhere to treatment when attended to by female healthcare providers.
She argued that women doctors play critical roles not only in clinical care but also in leadership, policy-making, research and community mobilisation.
“When women doctors are excluded from leadership, health systems lose empathy, informed planning and gender-responsive policies,” she said.
“But when they are empowered early, they help build systems that are more inclusive and resilient.”
She added that Nigeria continues to lose talented women in medicine due to financial pressures, burnout, poor working conditions and lack of institutional support, warning that the cost of under-supported women doctors is felt across the health system.
Support and health reforms
In a goodwill message, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, described the foundation’s work as aligned with ongoing health sector reforms.
The minister, represented by Mayowa Alade, a representative from the ministry, stated that the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII) prioritises women’s health and aims to significantly reduce maternal and child mortality.
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“Through the NHSRII, we are beginning to see a downward trend in maternal deaths in health facilities, including a 17 per cent reduction in maternal deaths in MAMII local government areas,” he said, adding that partnerships with non-governmental actors are essential to sustaining progress.
He described the Built for Her Foundation’s scholarship programme as a strategic investment in the future health workforce, noting that women currently make up only 35 to 37 per cent of Nigeria’s physicians.
“By supporting women medical students today, we are strengthening tomorrow’s healthcare system,” Mr Pate said.
Five pillars, long-term goals
The Built for Her Foundation said its work will be guided by five pillars aligned with the McKinsey framework for closing the gender health gap.
They include counting women through improved data, studying women through inclusive research, caring for women through responsive health services, including women in decision-making processes, and investing in women’s leadership and opportunities.
Ms Saraki called for collaboration among the government, clinicians, researchers, funders, and community organisations, saying that closing the gender health gap is critical to Nigeria’s economic growth, workforce productivity, and long-term development.
