The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has partnered with Lagos State to ensure the prevention of maternal mortality in the state and Nigeria at large.

Speaking at the event, which was held at Alausa Ikeja, Lagos, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, said the partnership was one of the landmark milestones of NHIA to ensure zero maternal mortality in the country.

He explained that the partnership was to ensure financial provision for all indigent pregnant women in Lagos State and enroll them into the NHIA programme to ensure zero maternal mortality in the state. “It is obvious now that when women are pregnant and they do not have money and show up at the hospitals, they would not be turned away, and their antenatal care would not be delayed.”

He said Lagos, being one of the most populated cities in Nigeria, has the highest rate of maternal deaths because of its large population of pregnant women.

Ohiri said the NHIA programme focused more on primary healthcare workers. Once they identify women who are in critical condition, those women could be referred to secondary healthcare facilities, which are general hospitals where there are more qualified healthcare personnel with adequate medical equipment, to treat these women and save their lives and the lives of their unborn babies. “We have started going around the states and local governments in Nigeria to save pregnant women.”

The CEO noted that NHIA has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with over 100 hospitals in Nigeria that can provide this adequate and quality obstetric care. “In Lagos, we signed MoUs with hospitals in Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Badagry, among other areas.”

In terms of sustainability, he said the NHIA and the Federal Ministry of Health, including the presidency, would pool money together to ensure that all pregnant women are covered in the health insurance in Nigeria, and the programme would last for a long period of time.

Ohiri said NHIA is also in Kano State, among other states, to ensure that no pregnant woman dies during childbirth.

The Commissioner for Health in Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, said the maternal mortality rate in Lagos is about 430 out of 100,000 pregnancies, and these women would have health complications resulting in their deaths.

He stated that the partnership aims to achieve zero maternal mortality in Lagos State. Even though the figure is not too high compared to other states, the lives of pregnant women matter most in Lagos. “We understand where the problem is. The problem is rooted in the pregnant women who are at high risk. When a pregnant woman is at high risk and we identify her when she comes for antenatal care registration, we take action immediately without delay to save her life and that of the unborn baby.”

Abayomi said during antenatal care, Lagos identifies those women who are at high risk, as these women do not have money to register for health insurance and do not have money to pay for the high-risk pregnancy.

He said this is the reason why Lagos partnered with NHIA to enable the federal government to come and help Lagos care for these indigent pregnant women who cannot afford to pay for their antenatal care.

He explained that through the intervention of the federal government, Lagos could save the mother and the unborn baby, as Lagos has adopted zero tolerance for maternal mortality in the state.

He said, “This is one of the programmes lined up, and we want to use this opportunity to thank the President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has made this programme possible through NHIA.”

Abayomi said the programme focuses on identifying where there is a communication gap between healthcare givers and pregnant women, especially in the rural areas where there are vulnerable women, and caring for them.

He said with this programme, Lagos is committed to identifying vulnerable pregnant women who cannot afford to pay for themselves and helping them out.

“Though in Lagos, we have few pregnant women living in rural areas such as Epe, Badagry, this programme is to identify them and pick them early.”