1 week Ago By Regina Otokpa
In a renewed effort to reduce maternal and infant mortality in the country, the Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to training at least 120,000 frontline health workers. The Minister of State for Health & Social Welfare, Iziaq Adekunle Salako, made this declaration during a Radio Nigeria Network news programme to commemorate the 2025 World Health Day on Monday. The theme for the 2025 World Health Day is “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures.
” Salako emphasized that the government’s commitment to ending preventable maternal and newborn deaths is receiving urgent attention. He said: “To achieve this, 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 and prevent both physical and financial suffering.
” Elaborating on some of the Ministry’s initiatives aimed at improving maternal and newborn health, Salako, in a statement signed by the Deputy Director of Information & Public Relations, Alaba Balogun, highlighted the critical importance of training and retraining health workers. 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, it is to ensure that by 2027, we reduce maternal mortality by at least 20 percent and reduce infant mortality by at least 15 percent.
To achieve this, the professionals delivering the service must be well-trained.” Taking capacity building further, the Minister stressed that healthcare practitioners must show evidence of continued professional development annually, in addition to renewing their practice licenses. In discussing efforts to ensure equitable access to maternal and newborn care nationwide, Salako informed Nigerians that the current administration is focused on expanding and developing primary healthcare centers.
He further said: “We are developing initiatives like MAMI (Maternal & Neo-Natal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative), which specifically targets high-burden local governments with respect to maternal mortality rates. “With these initiatives, we are bringing maternal and child healthcare closer to the people at the grassroots level.”.
