The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Women’s Health, Dr Adanna Steinacker, has called for elaborate collaboration and institutional partnerships among stakeholders to improve health outcomes for women and girls across Nigeria.
At a meeting with the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, MWAN, Dr Steinacker said Nigeria’s scale and population make women’s health a shared national responsibility rather than the duty of a single office or individual.
She noted that the high maternal mortality burden in some parts of the country makes maternal health the top priority for her office, alongside family planning and mental health awareness, stressing that interventions will be implemented through existing institutions and professional bodies to avoid duplication.
“The goal is to align, strengthen systems and ensure sustainable locally owned programmes that improve women’s health without duplicating existing efforts.
“This is the first time there’s an office for women’s health. We are looking to fill the gaps of accurate advocacy, raising health literacy. and maternal health, sexual and reproductive health, as well as mental health.
Dr Steinacker pointed out that digital media and advocacy will be a national voice for women’s health, relying on organisations like MWAN to collect accurate information and distribute them among their networks, programmes and campaigns.
“We need digital media and advocacy to improve health literacy, geopolitically anchored campaigns on maternal, sexual and reproductive, and mental health, and high-level summits and coalition-building with government, civil society, the private sector, and global partners.”
In her response, the President of the Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, MWAN, Dr Zainab Kwaru Muhammed, said the body has a strong network across Nigeria and is well disposed to help the federal government achieve its objectives.
She highlighted MWAN’s ongoing initiatives on maternal and child health and said support from the presidency would enhance their reach and effectiveness.
“We believe we have a ready tool to carry out campaigns, we have a strong network across the states. We look forward to engaging with your office to carry this out. As medical women, we’re in the digital age and need resources to carry out campaigns.”
