Maternal case fatality rate drops by 60% in supported health facilities

The Nigerian authorities has reported a 60 per cent discount in the maternal case fatality rate in health facilities supported by the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) between 2024 and September 2026.

The reported rate declined from 80.5 in 2024 to 31.9 in September 2026, exceeding the federal government’s preliminary goal of lowering facility-based maternal deaths by 30 per cent.

The National Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Coordination Office, Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, disclosed this on Tuesday in the course of the 2026 Nigeria Health Sector-Wide Joint Annual Review (JAR) in Abuja.

Presenting the progress report on the National Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), Mr Umar-Sadiq stated the advance adopted coordinated reforms aimed toward strengthening healthcare financing, enhancing the standard of providers and increasing entry to maternal healthcare.

“Following several validation exercises, including three rounds of telephone surveys and physical assessments through the FASTA approach, we are pleased to report that maternal death case fatality rates in BHCPF facilities have declined by 60 per cent,” he stated.

“This exceeds our initial target of 30 per cent.”

He stated the findings, drawn from routine health data and facility reviews, cowl 8,309 BHCPF-supported facilities.

Mr Umar-Sadiq stated facilities exterior the BHCPF programme continued to report considerably greater maternal case fatality ratios.

The 2026 Joint Annual Review, themed “Make Reform Data Count,” is a part of the federal authorities’s efforts to evaluate the implementation of NHSRII and SWAp.

Maternal healthcare enhancements

Mr Umar-Sadiq stated the federal government had dedicated in 2023 to lowering facility-based maternal deaths by 30 per cent as a part of broader efforts to enhance maternal and new child health outcomes.

He defined that the reforms have been designed to deal with challenges affecting healthcare supply, together with insufficient financing, weak accountability, poor facility readiness and restricted entry to important providers.

He stated the federal authorities subsequently launched measures to strengthen main healthcare facilities, enhance emergency referrals and develop monetary help for maternal healthcare.

He defined that the reported maternal case fatality rate in BHCPF-supported facilities fell sharply between 2024 and 2025, earlier than declining additional in 2026.

Mr Umar-Sadiq stated the outcomes have been encouraging and in keeping with enhancements in healthcare financing, facility readiness and high quality of care.

He, nonetheless, acknowledged the necessity for additional evaluation of the elements chargeable for the enhancements and measures required to maintain them.

“The Joint Annual Review provides an opportunity for stakeholders to examine these findings at state and facility levels, understand the factors responsible for the improvements and identify ways to sustain the gains,” he stated.

The findings have been drawn from the District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) and validated by means of the Facility Assessment and Supportive Supervision Technical Assistance (FASTA) course of.

More ladies accessing healthcare

Beyond the reported discount in maternal case fatality charges, the federal government additionally recorded enhancements in using maternal and little one healthcare providers.

Mr Umar-Sadiq stated findings from the 2026 Mini-Demographic and Health Survey, introduced forward of their public dissemination, indicated enhancements in 12 of 13 indicators overlaying household planning, maternal health and little one health.

According to him, progress in expert delivery attendance was 11 instances sooner in the course of the reform interval from 2023 to 2026 than in the previous 5 years.

He stated enhancements in postnatal checks have been seven instances sooner, whereas progress in institutional deliveries was 3 times sooner.

He stated the findings additionally confirmed enhancements in antenatal care attendance and different important maternal healthcare providers.

Mr Umar-Sadiq attributed the beneficial properties to coordinated interventions aimed toward guaranteeing that extra ladies obtain well timed and reasonably priced care, significantly in underserved communities.

These interventions embody strengthening hyperlinks between communities and health facilities, enhancing the provision of important medical provides and increasing emergency medical transportation.

Thousands of maternal deaths nonetheless reported

Despite the reported enhancements, maternal deaths stay a serious concern in Nigeria.

Speaking on the evaluate, the Director of Health Planning, Research and Statistics on the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, John Ovuoraye, disclosed that 3,273 maternal deaths have been reported in health facilities in 2026, in contrast with roughly 5,000 in 2024.

Mr Ovuoraye stated the figures have been contained in the 2026 JAR Statistical Book, which assesses progress underneath the federal government’s health sector reforms.

The figures symbolize reported maternal deaths throughout health facilities, whereas the 60 per cent discount earlier highlighted by Mr Umar-Sadiq relates particularly to maternal case fatality charges in BHCPF-supported facilities.

Mr Ovuoraye stated the statistical report was meant to assist the federal government and improvement companions assess progress, establish gaps and agree on measures to enhance healthcare supply.

He defined that the evaluate would additionally study nationwide and state efficiency underneath the 2023–2027 Health Sector Strategic Blueprint.

Shortage of expert health employees stays a problem

Although the federal government reported enhancements in maternal healthcare, Mr Umar-Sadiq acknowledged that a number of challenges proceed to have an effect on service supply.

These embody shortages of expert health employees, gaps in Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC), insufficient deployment of neighborhood health employees and considerations in regards to the high quality of health information.

He burdened the necessity to make sure that investments in healthcare infrastructure are supported by sufficient medical personnel.

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“Investments in CEmONC facilities, infrastructure and equipment must be matched with adequate numbers of skilled health workers. We must also modernise our tertiary health institutions,” he stated.

According to him, the following part of reforms will prioritise the deployment and retention of expert healthcare employees, significantly in facilities offering emergency obstetric and new child care.

He additionally recognized the necessity to develop profitable interventions to underserved and high-burden native authorities areas.

Other priorities embody enhancing healthcare financing, strengthening accountability and guaranteeing that elevated authorities funding interprets into enhancements in health outcomes.

Mr Umar-Sadiq stated sustained collaboration between federal and state governments, improvement companions, conventional establishments, civil society organisations and the non-public sector can be important to sustaining the progress recorded.