Grant Challenges Nigeria (GCNg), a government-led innovation platform, has announced the selection of 10 Nigerian-led projects under its initiative to address persistent maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) challenges in the country.
According to a statement by GCNg, the grantees will receive seed funding and targeted technical support to prove and position their work for broader uptake.
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It added that projects were chosen through a competitive, expert-led review process.
The statement noted that the milestone is part of a broader strategy to build a national innovation platform that identifies critical health and food security challenges and directs innovation resources toward solutions that can scale.
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“These projects span innovations in technologies, locally tailored tools, and inclusive service models that address major bottlenecks in MNCH from neonatal sepsis and maternal emergencies to digital risk prediction, AI-enabled screening, and health system linkages,” the statement said.
The selected projects are led by Nigerian institutions, researchers, and innovators, focusing on issues such as neonatal sepsis, birth asphyxia, maternal emergencies, birth defects, and low access to digital and diagnostic services.
Selected projects
Among the grantees is Stephen Oguche, a professor at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), Plateau State. Mr Oguche’s project would assess affordable diagnostic tools for neonatal sepsis using biomarkers and genomic sequencing.
In Ile-Ife, Osun State, Ezekiel Akinkunmi of the Obafemi Awolowo University is to develop a herbal alternative to chlorhexidine for umbilical cord care using Ocimum gratissimum extracts.
The third grantee, Chidinma Akanazu of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, is piloting “MobiCare 360,” a mobile and community-based service to improve antenatal care and immunisation rates in underserved communities in Imo State.
The fourth grantee, Bosede Afolabi, a professor from the Maternal and Reproductive Health Research Collective organisation in Lagos, will implement “MamaLink,” a tech-driven referral and emergency transport network for pregnant women living in informal settlements.
Also selected is a project by Adebolajo Adeyemo from the Institute of Child Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, to train primary health workers in birth defect detection and link affected newborns to health insurance coverage.
The sixth grantee is Victor Ayeni from Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, with the project title “Effect Of N-Acetylcysteine On Outcomes Of Perinatal Asphyxia; A Multicentre, Double-Blind Randomised Controlled Trial.”
The seventh grantee, Uchechukwu Chukwuocha from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, with the project title “Interactive Digital Solution for Self-Risk Assessment and Support to Improve Maternal and Child Health in Nigeria (MaternAid-360).”
The eighth grantee is Babasola Okusanya from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, with the project title “Development of Antenatal Risk Prediction Model for Preeclampsia with Severe Features in Lagos, Nigeria – A Prospective Cohort Study (PreSev Study).”
In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Abia State, Krystal Anyanwu and Ugochukwu Onyeonoro from the Centre for Family Health Initiative (CFHI) and Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, have their projects titled Building Innovative Responses to Transform Healthcare (BIRTH) and Cervical Cancer Screening At Scale For Nigerian Mothers – AI for Non-Expert Primary Healthcare Workers, respectively.
Maternal and child mortality
Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world, with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa saying that one in seven global maternal deaths occurs in Nigeria. That is more than 50,000 women dying per year in Nigeria.
A 2023 report, titled: ‘Improving maternal and newborn health and survival and reducing stillbirth: Progress Report 2023’, shows that Nigeria accounts for the second-highest number of maternal and child deaths globally, after India.
The report noted that in 2020, about 788 women and children died ‘per thousand’ in India and about 540 women and children ‘per thousand’ died in Nigeria.
In the same year, India accounted for 17 per cent of global maternal, and neonatal deaths and stillbirths, while Nigeria accounted for 12 per cent.
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Eight other countries with high maternal, neonatal, and stillbirths are Pakistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Tanzania.
The report estimates that globally, there were a combined 4.5 million maternal, neonatal deaths and stillbirths in 2020.
About Grand Challenges Nigeria
GCNg is a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems.
It was launched last year by the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, Kashim Shettima, the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology (FMIST) and the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) as a broader strategy to integrate innovative solutions to address critical health and development issues.
It is supported by international partners to fund and advance impactful research and innovations in health, food systems, and development in Nigeria.
The platform identifies Nigeria’s most pressing development challenges; direct funding, technology, and expertise to solutions that are built for scale; align innovations with public systems and national policy goals; and support innovators not just to pilot ideas but to integrate into Nigeria’s health and food systems.
The MNCH grantees are the first cohort in a long-term commitment to unlock Nigeria’s innovation potential for the benefit of Nigerians.
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