The federal government says no fewer than 2.1 million pregnant women are currently accessing antenatal care services under reforms being implemented through the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII).
The Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp), Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, disclosed this during a media conference on ongoing health sector reforms, the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Compact and the state of Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) readiness across Nigeria.
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Mr Umar-Sadiq said the reforms were already delivering measurable results across priority local government areas nationwide, with interventions targeting governance, infrastructure, accountability and healthcare workforce gaps.
According to him, the reforms were designed to address longstanding challenges affecting healthcare delivery at federal, state and local government levels.
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“The point of this reform is to address some of the longstanding issues that we’ve had in the health sector, everything from limited coordination and fragmentation to infrastructure and data issues,” he said.
Mr Umar-Sadiq said that governance remained central to the reforms, stressing that improving healthcare outcomes required efficient organisation of the sector and stronger accountability mechanisms beyond increased funding alone.
“The right solutions are not necessarily about more money into the system. Governance, how we organise the sector for delivery and accountability frameworks are at the heart of addressing issues,” he said.
He disclosed that the federal government, in partnership with states, recently assessed 774 CEmONC facilities and identified critical infrastructure and equipment gaps nationwide.
He added that 251 secondary health facilities across the country would receive medical equipment aimed at strengthening emergency obstetric and newborn care services in labour wards, theatres and neonatal units.
He said the equipment package would support labour rooms, pharmacies, laboratories, operating theatres and neonatal units to improve maternal and newborn emergency response capabilities across health facilities nationwide.
Mr Umar-Sadiq said the reforms were also addressing demand-side barriers through the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) by supporting reimbursement for Caesarean Sections and treatment of obstetric complications nationwide.
He revealed that no fewer than 259 health facilities had already been empaneled under the programme, while over 42,000 maternal and neonatal services had been reimbursed across the country successfully.
“Over 4,000 women and neonates have benefited from free caesarean sections,” the SWAp coordinator said while highlighting interventions supporting maternal and newborn healthcare access in priority areas nationwide.
He further disclosed that no fewer than 3,000 primary healthcare centres had been revitalised nationwide, while over 3,000 Community Healthcare Workers had also been recruited and deployed to underserved communities.
According to him, 172 LGAs accounting for nearly 55 per cent of maternal deaths nationwide are currently being prioritised under the ongoing intervention programme across the country.
“We are localising the issues and ensuring that states lead responses to context-specific challenges,” Mr Umar-Sadiq explained while outlining implementation strategies adopted under the reform programme nationwide.
Sustainability efforts
On sustainability, he said the reforms had been structured around a pay-for-results model to ensure states assumed ownership of healthcare interventions and improved accountability in implementation processes nationwide.
“What we have designed is a programme where states use their resources to revitalise facilities and recruit healthcare workers, and then we pay them after the fact,” he said.
He explained that unlike previous interventions, the new health compact signed by the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory clearly defined obligations, monitoring mechanisms and performance indicators nationwide.
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“For the first time, we now have a unified accountability framework spelling out expectations from states and the federal government,” Mr Umar-Sadiq said.
The SWAp coordinator added that quarterly performance reviews were now being conducted with states to track progress on maternal mortality, healthcare workforce deployment and facility revitalisation across the country.
According to him, the reforms were already yielding positive outcomes, including increased healthcare utilisation, rising skilled birth attendance and reductions in facility-based maternal mortality rates within intervention areas nationwide.
“We are now seeing that utilisation of services is picking up. Deliveries by skilled birth attendants are increasing and facility-based maternal mortality rates are reducing from baseline,” he stated.
Mr Umar-Sadiq acknowledged challenges affecting recruitment and retention of healthcare workers amid rising migration of professionals abroad, but said investments were currently being made to strengthen workforce production nationwide.
(NAN)
