In a renewed drive to reduce maternal, infant mortality in the country, the federal government has expressed commitment to train least, 120,000 frontline workers
The Minister of State for Health & Social Welfare Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako who spoke during a Radio Nigeria Network news programme to commemorate the 2025 World Health Day on Monday themed, “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures,” noted that the commitment to ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths in the country was receiving urgent attention.
He said: “To achieve that, the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative was developed as a mechanism to ensure that universal health coverage is achieved. We are able to save lives. We are able to prevent physical and financial pains.”
Elaborating on some of the maternal and newborn initiatives of the Ministry, the Minister in a statement signed by the Deputy Director Information & Public Relations of the ministry, Mr. Alaba Balogun, highlighted the critical importance of training and retraining of health workers, even as he explained that about 50 percent of the targeted 120,000 frontline workers have already been trained.
“If you look at one of the key deliverables of the Federal Ministry of Health & Social Welfare within the Presidential Priorities is to ensure that by 2027, we reduce maternal mortality by at least 20 percent and reduce infant mortality by at least 15 percent. In order to ensure we do that, the professional delivering the service must be well trained.”
Taking capacity building a notch higher, the Minister pointed out that a practitioner must show evidence of continued professional development on annual basis; besides renewal of practising licence.
Speaking on ensuring equitable access to maternal and newborn care across the country, Dr. Salako informed Nigerians that the present administration is intentional on expansion and development of primary healthcare centres.
He further said: “We are developing such initiatives like MAMI (Maternal & Neo-Natal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative) which is specifically targeting high-budget local government with respect to maternal mortality rates.
“So you will see that with all this put together, we are taking maternal and child healthcare closer to the people at the grassroots.”
