Nigeria Health Watch hosts health policy dialogue on maternal health

By Doris Obinna

Recognising that maternal health is a crucial aspect of public health, reflecting the well-being of a nation’s future generations, Nigeria Health Watch is convening key stakeholders for a health policy dialogue on maternal health.

The dialogue on mental health, titled, “Scaling maternal health innovations in Nigeria: Learnings, challenges and opportunities,” will hold today, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Abuja, Nigeria.

Nigeria Health Watch, in a statement disclosed that maternal mortality remains a key issue affecting women of reproductive age across the African region.

“In a World Health Organisation (WHO) report, Nigeria ranked as the second-highest in number of maternal deaths globally in 2023. These outcomes indicate a disparity between Nigeria’s health outcomes and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births.

“Many women in Nigeria face delays in seeking maternal healthcare, and these delays are often due to systemic barriers like poor access to health services, financial constraints and poor transportation infrastructure.

“Fortunately, key innovations in digital health and telehealth and evidence-backed approaches like E-MOTIVE, a postpartum haemorrhage management bundle of services, offer promising solutions and renewed hope in addressing gaps in maternal healthcare in Nigeria.

“To address Nigeria’s poor indicators in maternal health, it is imperative to identify the existing gaps affecting the country’s maternal health outcomes and deploy creative solutions to bridge these gaps.”

The statement further emphasized that  the theme aims to bring key stakeholders together to discuss the benefits, challenges and strategies for implementing and scaling up maternal health innovations within the Nigerian healthcare system.

“The goal of this year’s policy dialogue is to foster discussions between the government at the national and sub-national levels, healthcare providers, civil society organisations, the private sector and development partners concerned with maternal health.

“In addition to this, the policy dialogue will provide an avenue to increase awareness about successful maternal healthcare innovations and generate actionable recommendations for scaling up maternal healthcare innovations nationwide.”

Director of programmes at Nigeria Health Watch, Dr. Kemisola Agbaoye, who was quoted in the statement, noted that dialogue was a crucial step towards addressing the systemic challenges in maternal health care, encouraging innovative solutions, fostering collaboration and driving policy reforms that will save lives.

“It is hoped that the policy dialogue will enable participants to identify challenges and opportunities in scaling up maternal healthcare innovations in Nigeria and develop effective strategies for improving maternal health indices within the country’s healthcare system.”