The Oyo State Government has partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund [UNICEF] and other development organisations to scale up the Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) programme for pregnant women, with total investments approaching $500 million.

This was disclosed at pilot dissemination meetings on MMS held in Ibadan, convened to share findings from implementation research, feasibility studies and pilot projects on the transition from Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (IFAS) to MMS for pregnant women.

The meeting brought together officials from the State Ministry of Health, UNICEF, Evidence Action, public health practitioners, as well as pregnant and nursing mothers, to exchange experiences and assess evidence on effectiveness, adherence and acceptability, with a view to reducing maternal and infant mortality.

It would be recalled  that the transition from Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) to Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) for pregnant women in Nigeria began officially in  2021, following the 2020 World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation to replace IFA with MMS in low- and middle-income countries.

Oyo State and the Federal Capital Territory were selected in 2023 for the pilot program to test the transition from IFAS to MMS with support from Evidence Action , a non-profit organization that scales high-impact, evidence-based programs to reduce global poverty

The Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) with 15 essential vitamins and minerals, including iron and folic acid was adopted  as an alternative to IFA to address anemia risks while also tackling other common deficiencies that undermine pregnancy outcomes.

The Federal Government ,in 2024 approved the scale up from pilot programs to nationwide to combat high rates of anemia in pregnancy with a 5-year phased transition plan (2025–2029)

The South-West Regional Manager of Evidence Action, Mrs Maryann Edeh, disclosed that an average of 160,000 pregnant women would be reached monthly in the scale-up programme across all 33 local government areas of the state.

She added that the organisation would continue to support the government to ensure the availability of MMS in all public health facilities.

According to her, more than 90,000 cartons of MMS have been donated to Oyo State since 2024 by Evidence Action targeting over 3,000 pregnant women enrolled in the pilot phase across four local government areas: Ibadan South-West (urban), and Oyo West, Oyo East and Afijio (rural).

Providing further background, Edeh explained that studies conducted between May 2024 and December 2025 saw the distribution of 19,440 bottles of MMS to pregnant women attending antenatal care in 90 health facilities.

She noted that 48 facilities were actively engaged in the programme across the four LGAs, with 4,331 MMS bottles supplied, alongside 8,460 anaemia testing devices and consumables, 48 testing devices, 15,000 microcuvettes, and the training of 48 health workers.

According to her, each pregnant woman received a bottle containing 180 MMS tablets, sufficient for six months.

Edeh, in her recommendations from research findings by Evidence Action, advised the state government to retain the 180 tablets of the MMS for each pregnant woman as well as the distribution model and to sustain the reinforced training and supervision as primary methods for improving testing and treatment rates.

She also charged the state government to address gaps in the supply chain in preparation for the MMS scale up ,utilize the Child Nutrition Fund and Hope PHCN Financing as procurement pathway,and develop long term financing model among others

Earlier, while giving an overview of the program in Oyo state, the Assistant State Nutrition Officer, Mrs Shakirat Ajuwon confirmed that MMS is now being distributed to pregnant women in health facilities across all 33 local government areas, in line with the state’s transition agenda from IFAS to MMS.

She added that the government contributed $150,000 to the UNICEF Child Nutrition Fund to procure nutritional commodities, while the production of high-grade soy flour is ongoing at Oni Memorial Children’s Hospital in Ibadan, among other interventions.

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Oyo State Primary Health Care Board, Dr Muideen Olatunji, emphasised the importance of accountability and system strengthening in healthcare delivery.

Olatunji said: “We are making so much investment into the health system, especially at the primary care level. But if care is not taken, no matter how much investment we’re making, if it’s not properly monitored and supervised, they might just go down the drain.

“So part of the thing we’re trying to do now as one of the ways of system strengthening is to improve on our supervisory activities.

“We are designing something we call integrated support supervision now. That is not only for only one programme, but all programmes across boards in the primary care sector.
“And we are going to be mobilising some of our senior officers on to the field to monitor what our personnel are doing.