Improving the Health of Mothers and Children in Nigeria; Willa Pressman, U.S. Agency for International Development

February 2011

Last week I was in Nigeria working with a team of local and US health specialists trying to help more mothers survive childbirth, and more children live to age 5.

As in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, women and their children suffer disproportionately from preventable health problems. Each year, one out of 13 women in dies of childbirth related causes and one million children under five die from preventable, treatable diseases like pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. Those lives can be saved with the most basic health services and information.

U.S. global health programs directed at AIDS and malaria have had staggering success, saving millions of lives. In 2009, we started a process under the Global Health Initiative to work with developing countries to strengthen their health programs, especially those targeting women and children. Part of USAID’s contribution to this interagency effort is called BEST, which stands for “BEST practices at scale in the home, community and facility.”

I helped our team in Nigeria develop a plan to ensure that we are using the strongest interventions to improve the health of mothers and children in Nigeria. The Nigeria Health Team includes American and Nigerian technical experts who work closely with the Government of Nigeria, the private sector, non-governmental organizations and other donors to improve the health of Nigerians.

A year ago, the current program was introduced in two states of Nigeria that have very poor health services. The program includes training health workers; improving health practices and basic health information; and strengthening health systems – such as basic as record keeping, and drug distribution. With improved services and systems, mothers and children will receive regular immunizations, bednets (to protect against mosquitoes that spread malaria), treatment for children sick with malaria and diarrheal disease, and appropriate information so mothers can improve keep their families healthy.

Along with other activities, the Nigeria health program also includes a media program which will reach families throughout Nigeria with health messages via the radio. The messages will include the prevention and treatment of malaria, the promotion of family planning and breastfeeding, and how to treat diarrheal diseases. In many other countries, these social marketing programs have demonstrated strong success in changing practices and promoting health. They help mothers to use life-saving treatments like bednets, contraceptives, and oral rehydration treatment for diarrhea.

In developing the our plan, the Washington and Nigerian Health Teams reviewed the current health program to ensure that the we are implementing state-of-the-art efforts in maternal/child health, nutrition and family planning. Since the Nigeria health program is solidly focused on activities to improve maternal and child health, developing our plan reinforced the analysis of existing program efforts: emphasizing high impact program interventions; underlining the importance of integrating our programs; and assembling lessons from the Nigeria program to take back to Washington. I was constantly impressed by the team in Nigeria and their strong technical expertise and experience in the range of maternal and child health activities.

Once the our plan is final, a review in Washington with experts from other organizations and U.S. Government partners will provide feedback to further reinforce this strong program and spread the word about model maternal and child health practices which are saving and improving lives.