By Mercy Gadia
The Federal Government will commence the deployment of Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC) equipment to 251 secondary healthcare facilities across the country as part of efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths.
The rollout begins Friday under the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, implemented through the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) framework and anchored on the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Compact signed by all 36 states.
Coordinator of SWAp and National Coordinator of the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, Dr Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, disclosed this during a media briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the intervention followed a nationwide assessment of 774 secondary health facilities, which identified major infrastructure and equipment gaps affecting emergency obstetric care services.
According to him, the reforms are aimed at addressing deep-rooted structural challenges in the health sector.
“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, fragmentation, issues on human resources, infrastructure, readiness of our facilities and data issues,” he said.
Umar-Sadiq added that governance remains central to the reform process, stressing that improved outcomes depend not only on funding but on system organisation and accountability.
“The right solutions are not necessarily about more money into the system. Governance, how we organise the sector for delivery and how we incorporate accountability frameworks are at the heart of addressing these longstanding issues,” he said.
He explained that the deployment forms part of a structured reform process aimed at strengthening maternal and newborn health services through coordinated federal and state action.
He said the initiative is built on an “ask-and-offer” framework under the UHC Compact, where the Federal Government provides financing, technical support and equipment, while states are expected to undertake facility upgrades, co-financing and operational support.
Umar-Sadiq stated that the rollout is also a demonstration of commitment under the compact arrangement.
“Tomorrow, we will be providing equipment to nearly 251 secondary facilities across the country. This is consequential because it signals our ability to honour commitments under the compact and also leverage states’ resources to improve infrastructure in those facilities,” he said.
According to him, the reform is designed to address long-standing governance and coordination challenges in the health sector, rather than focusing solely on procurement of equipment.
He disclosed that over 3,000 primary healthcare centres have been revitalised nationwide, with 808 located in 172 high-burden local government areas identified as major contributors to maternal mortality.
He also noted that more than 3,000 community health workers have been recruited and deployed to strengthen frontline service delivery across states.
Umar-Sadiq further explained that the intervention is deliberately targeted at high-burden areas.
“We are localising the issues and ensuring that states lead responses to context-specific challenges,” he said.
In addition, over 42,000 women have benefited from free maternal and neonatal health services, including Caesarean sections, under the programme, while more than 2.1 million pregnant women have accessed antenatal care services.
Umar-Sadiq said the initiative also includes data-driven monitoring systems, quarterly performance reviews, and joint federal-state accountability mechanisms to track implementation outcomes.
He acknowledged concerns around workforce shortages and sustainability, noting that ongoing recruitment and coordination with states are intended to strengthen human resource capacity at the primary and secondary levels.
On financing sustainability, he explained that the programme is structured around performance-based implementation.
“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.
The Federal Government said the success of the reforms will depend on sustained collaboration between federal, state and local governments, as well as continued investment in health infrastructure and personnel.
The initiative is expected to expand access to emergency obstetric care and improve outcomes for mothers and newborns nationwide.