Muhammad Pate, Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, stated on Tuesday that the federal government has delivered 80,906 free caesarean sections. Speaking at the 2026 Nigeria Health Sector Joint Annual Review in Abuja, he noted that mortality from obstetric emergencies in participating facilities has decreased by 22 per cent. According to Premium Times, these interventions form part of nearly 100,000 free emergency obstetric and newborn healthcare services provided since the programme began two years ago.
The minister specified that the services included approximately 9,100 newborn interventions and 6,059 repairs for vesicovaginal fistula, a condition causing urine leakage after childbirth injuries. AllAfrica reported that Pate described the initiative as a measure to lower preventable maternal and newborn mortality by enhancing emergency care access for women facing financial constraints. The intervention launched in August 2024 in four facilities in Kano and Akwa Ibom states before spreading across the country.
Pate highlighted infrastructure upgrades, noting that the government supplied equipment to over 300 secondary healthcare sites and more than 500 primary healthcare centres. He explained that secondary sites now handle comprehensive emergency care, while primary centres manage basic emergencies. Under the Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative, authorities connected 750,000 expectant mothers to working health facilities. Emergency transport in 171 of 172 covered local government areas moved 104,566 women and newborns, while the broader referral network transported 168,571 patients using 1,053 vehicles.
Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, National Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach Coordination Office, pointed to persistent staffing shortages and gaps in comprehensive emergency obstetric care. He argued that facility investments must align with sufficient skilled workforce numbers to modernise tertiary institutions. The 2026 review, themed “Make the Data Count,” gathered federal and state officials to evaluate the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.