172 LGAs Account For 55% Of Nigeria’s Maternal Deaths — FG

 

The Federal Government has revealed that just 172 of the nation’s 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) account for 55 percent of all maternal deaths nationwide. The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, made the announcement in Abuja during the official national flag-off of direct incentives intended to boost the uptake of maternal and newborn healthcare services.

The geographic concentration means that nearly six out of every ten maternal fatalities occur across roughly 20 percent of the country’s administrative councils, spanning 33 states.  

The disproportionate death toll in these focal LGAs forms the baseline for the Federal Government’s flagship Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII). Launched to move beyond blanket, nationwide interventions, MAMII strategically deploys resources, clinical equipment, and targeted subsidies directly to high-risk zones.  

Targeted Interventions and Incentive Rollouts

Dr. Salako explained that the central government's shift toward data-driven, localized healthcare planning is necessary to drastically lower preventable maternal casualties.

"Our strategy is informed by the urgent need to move past broad, general interventions and concentrate heavy resources where mothers and newborns face the greatest, most immediate survival risks," Salako stated.  

The newly inaugurated incentive structure is designed to dismantle socio-economic barriers that prevent pregnant women from seeking facility-based care. The scheme provides direct support to encourage early registration for antenatal care (ANC), delivery within certified primary healthcare facilities under skilled birth attendants, and comprehensive postnatal follow-up care.  

Through MAMII, the ministry plans to extend free, timely, and comprehensive maternal healthcare services to approximately 2.9 million pregnant women in the designated high-burden council areas.  

Early Operational Progress and Emergency Response

Despite the deep structural challenges facing primary healthcare delivery, early metrics from the initiative indicate positive gains. According to health ministry disclosures:  

Direct Emergency Interventions: More than 32,000 women experiencing critical pregnancy complications and over 1,700 newborns have received lifesaving Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal Care (EmONC).  

Medical Transportation: Through integration with the National Emergency Medical Treatment and Ambulance System (NEMSAS), nearly 79,000 patients have been safely transported to emergency centers, with pregnant women representing 60 percent of all trips.  

Increased Service Uptake: Implementing LGAs reported a 20 percent single-quarter increase in women completing their crucial fourth antenatal care (ANC4) visit.  

Healthcare authorities emphasize that securing prompt transport during obstetric emergencies such as severe postpartum hemorrhage, pre-eclampsia, and obstructed labor remains the single most effective buffer against maternal mortality.

Persistent Infrastructure Gaps and Roadblocks

While the targeted strategy under MAMII offers a precise framework, public health analysts warn that achieving the 2028 targets will depend heavily on resolving long-standing structural bottlenecks across the federation.  

The majority of the 172 high-density maternal mortality LGAs are situated in hard-to-reach, rural, or security-compromised areas where Primary Healthcare Centers (PHCs) suffer from chronic understaffing, missing water and electricity services, and shortages of essential obstetric medicines.

Public health advocates stress that government cash or health incentives must be paired with functional health infrastructure. Without sustained funding allocations from state and local government administrations, reliable supply chains for blood products, and the retention of skilled nurses and midwives in rural outposts, national maternal mortality reduction goals face steep operational hurdles.  

The Federal Ministry of Health affirmed its commitment to maintaining rigorous monitoring across the 172 LGAs while urging state governors and council chairpersons to match federal investments with local healthcare allocations.