The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Women’s Health, Dr Adanna Steinacker, on Wednesday, inaugurated the ‘RenewHER Save Our Mothers’ campaign in Abuja.
The initiative aims to strengthen maternal health advocacy and outcomes across the country.
Steinacker also inaugurated state ambassadors for the initiative to drive advocacy across the 36 states and the FCT.
She said Nigeria was not lacking in maternal health programmes but faced gaps in last-mile awareness, trust, and utilisation of available services.
“Maternal deaths often occur at the point where services exist, but women are unable to access or use them. That is where we must now concentrate our national efforts,” Steinacker said.
She explained that the Save Our Mothers campaign serves as the advocacy and health literacy component under the renewHER platform, aimed at bridging the gap between services and beneficiaries.
According to her, the initiative will work through the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health’s Department of Family Health, to amplify safe motherhood priorities.
“Today, we are inaugurating renewHER ambassadors across the 36 states and the FCT to serve as a structured and accountable mobilisation network for maternal health literacy and service utilisation.
“This is not symbolic; it is a delivery framework. This is the moment to move from goodwill to concrete partnerships,” she said.
Steinacker emphasised that the initiative seeks to ensure that no woman dies while giving life.
The Director of the Reproductive Health Division, Department of Family Health, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Samuel Oyeniyi, commended the initiative and described it as a major step towards improving maternal health outcomes.
He urged stakeholders, including government agencies, development partners, civil society, and the private sector, to support the campaign and expand its reach to communities nationwide.
Also speaking, the Mandate Secretary, Health Services and Environment Secretariat, FCT Administration, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, said the initiative aligned with ongoing efforts to strengthen primary healthcare delivery.
She noted that the administration of President Tinubu was prioritising improved access to skilled birth attendants and enhancing community-level awareness.
Fasawe said the campaign reflected a people-centred approach that combines advocacy, service delivery, and accountability to ensure no woman or child is left behind.
Earlier, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health and Nutrition, Mrs Uju-Rochas Anwukah, said the initiative complements ongoing efforts to promote nutrition across the 774 local government areas.
She said the administration was focused on reaching underserved populations, particularly women and children in rural communities.
Anwukah said the initiative would help drive coordinated action, strengthen financing, improve data for decision-making, and sustain advocacy to keep maternal and child health at the centre of national development.
She added that maternal well-being goes beyond physical health, stressing the importance of mental and emotional support for women to build stable families and communities.
NAN
