The Federal Government has reaffirmed that addressing Nigeria’s gender health gap is fundamental to achieving sustainable health reforms, economic growth, and overall national development.
It noted that the country’s high maternal and child mortality rates go beyond clinical failures, describing them as systemic challenges influenced by access to quality healthcare, availability of skilled health workers, financial protection, and broader social and economic factors.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, made this known in Abuja at the launch of the Built for Her Foundation, established to advance women’s health and wellbeing across the country.
The launch introduced the foundation’s vision and priority areas, anchored on the McKinsey Health Institute framework for closing the gender health gap and its commitment to working through strategic partnerships across healthcare, research, education, technology and community organisations.
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr Mayowa Alade, Pate said women’s health is inseparable from national productivity, economic growth and future prosperity.
He noted that the Federal Government is implementing the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII), a comprehensive reform agenda aimed at strengthening governance, improving population health, unlocking the healthcare value chain, and enhancing health security and resilience.
He said: “This gathering represents a moment of collective resolve, a shared acknowledgement that the health of women and girls is inseparable from the health, productivity, and future of our nation. It underscores our responsibility to act with urgency, intention, and collaboration.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is currently implementing the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, a comprehensive reform agenda designed to strengthen the health system, by improving health sector governance, improving population health through an equitable, efficient and quality health system, unlocking the health care value chain and strengthening health security and resilience.
“A central pillar of this initiative is the prioritisation of women’s health and the deliberate effort to crash maternal and child mortality rates, which remains unacceptably high. Through the NHSRII, we are beginning to see a downward trend in maternal deaths in our health facilities (17% reduction in maternal deaths in health facilities in the MAMII LGAs).”
According to him, the work of the Built for Her Foundation aligns strongly with the objectives of the NHSRII, particularly in ensuring that women are properly counted in health data, adequately studied in research, cared for within responsive health systems, included in decision-making processes and invested in as drivers of change.
He added: “Initiatives that integrate healthcare delivery with education, research, community engagement and social determinants of health, such as the Built for Her Foundation, are critical complements to government action.”
In her remarks, the Founder of the Built for Her Foundation, Dr Teniola Saraki, said the foundation was established on the belief that women and girls deserve a world intentionally built with them in mind.
She explained that women’s health extends far beyond reproductive care, encompassing cancers, cardiovascular diseases, mental health conditions and autoimmune disorders, where women often experience delayed diagnosis and poorer outcomes.
Saraki said Nigeria records approximately one maternal death every seven minutes, adding that in 2023 an estimated 75,000 mothers were lost, accounting for 29 per cent of all maternal deaths worldwide.
Citing a 2024 McKinsey Health Institute report, Dr Saraki noted that women globally spend about 25 per cent more of their lives in poor health than men, a gap driven largely by data, research and access deficits.
She said: “These gaps are not inevitable. They reflect how health systems have been designed and delivered, and they can be addressed through intentional, evidence-based action.”
A major highlight of the programme was the official recognition of 30 beneficiaries of the Built for Her National Medical Students Scholarship, delivered in collaboration with the Nigerian Medical Students’ Association (NiMSA).
The beneficiaries, selected from over 100 applicants nationwide, were drawn from all six geopolitical zones and are 400-level medical students.
One of the beneficiaries, Hindat Abdulwahab, described the scholarship as a beacon of hope and a powerful affirmation that women belong at the forefront of healthcare innovation, leadership and excellence.
Abdulwahab said: “The Built for Her Foundation is not just funding education; it is igniting a movement that tells women they are seen, valued and capable of transforming healthcare.”
Also speaking at the event, the Founder of the Wellbeing Foundation Africa, Mrs Toyin Saraki, said sustainable national progress could not be achieved without prioritising the health and wellbeing of women and girls.
She said: “Persistent gaps in access, representation and investment continue to shape unequal health outcomes, reflecting structural shortcomings in how women are counted, studied, cared for, included and invested within health systems.”
She added that the Built for Her Foundation has entered the space with a strong analytical framework grounded in data, research and accountability, guided by global evidence on the gender health gap.
