By Solomon Odeniyi
Stakeholders in Nigeria’s health sector have called for urgent action to address funding gaps, affordability barriers, and supply constraints threatening the nationwide scale-up of Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation for pregnant women.
The appeal was made on Thursday in Abuja during the launch of research findings on MMS landscaping and segmentation in Nigeria, organised by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Sight and Life, and the Development Research and Projects Centre.
Presenting the findings, Lead Researcher, Dr. Stanley Ukpai, urged government, development partners, and the private sector to take decisive steps to ensure that pregnant women across the country have access to the life-saving supplement.
“Nigeria’s planned scale-up of Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation for pregnant women is being constrained by three immediate challenges: fragmented financing, affordability barriers for women, and supply levels that remain far below national need,” Ukpai said.
He noted that Nigeria records about 7.8 million pregnancies annually and continues to face a high burden of anaemia among pregnant women, making the expansion of MMS critical to improving maternal and child health outcomes.
“While MMS offers broader nutrient support than iron and folic acid supplementation and is strongly accepted by women when available, affordable and properly explained, long-term scale-up will require stronger public financing, protection for low-income women, and a more reliable supply system,” he stated.
Ukpai warned that continued dependence on donor support could undermine sustainability and called for institutionalised financing mechanisms to guarantee long-term access.
“Our findings show that women are willing to use MMS, but many cannot afford it consistently, while current supply remains significantly below the level required for nationwide coverage,” he added.
He recommended increased government investment, affordability protections for vulnerable women, stronger procurement systems, and support for local manufacturing to secure a sustainable supply of the supplement.
Country Programme Manager for Sight and Life, Mrs. Zainab Abubakar, said the research was commissioned to provide evidence that would guide efforts to expand maternal nutrition interventions and improve access to essential commodities.
“The assessment identified practical pathways for sustainable MMS financing, highlighted implementation bottlenecks, and produced recommendations to help policymakers and development partners align financing decisions with national health priorities and the goal of nationwide scale-up,” she said.
Abubakar stressed that inadequate funding, weak insurance coverage, and high out-of-pocket spending remain significant obstacles to equitable access to maternal nutrition services.
Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr. Salma Ibrahim Anas, called for accelerated implementation of strategies that would ensure every pregnant woman benefits from improved nutrition support.
“Maternal nutrition is central to Nigeria’s health and development agenda because it directly affects the survival, health and future potential of both mothers and children,” she said.
Anas emphasised that evidence on the effectiveness of MMS was no longer in doubt.
“The priority now is not whether MMS works, but how to scale it effectively and equitably,” she stated.
Earlier, the Director of Nutrition at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Mrs. Adegbite Olufunmilola, said the Federal Government had already integrated MMS into national maternal nutrition and antenatal care guidelines, but stressed that stronger implementation and financing commitments were needed.
“We need deeper collaboration among government, development partners and the private sector to ensure that proven maternal nutrition interventions such as MMS reach women at scale,” she said.
Olufunmilola identified public budgets, health insurance schemes, and other domestic financing mechanisms as viable options for sustaining the programme, while highlighting local manufacturing as a strategic opportunity to strengthen supply security.
Executive Director of Nutrition at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Anna Hakobyan, described the research findings as a valuable resource for policymakers and stakeholders working to improve maternal and child nutrition.
“The findings provide valuable evidence and practical insights to support Nigeria’s efforts to integrate micronutrient supplementation as part of wider sustainable maternal and child nutrition strategies,” she said.
Stakeholders at the event agreed that without stronger domestic financing, improved affordability measures, and reliable supply systems, millions of pregnant women could be denied access to a proven intervention capable of improving maternal and child health outcomes across the country.
Copyright PUNCH
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: [email protected]
