A PLAN TO END PREVENTABLE NEWBORN DEATHS IN NIGERIA
Plan · Health
A Plan provides a roadmap to end preventable newborn deaths in Nigeria by specifying high-impact interventions and implementation strategies. It targets federal and state health ministries, healthcare workers, and community health workers. This aims to scale up interventions and prevent most newborn deaths by 2030.
A PLAN TO END PREVENTABLE NEWBORN DEATHS IN NIGERIA
What Is This Policy?
An operational plan providing a concrete roadmap for achieving the Every Newborn Action Plan targets in Nigeria, specifying high-impact interventions, coverage targets, and implementation strategies.
Who Does It Target?
Federal and state health ministries implementing newborn programmes Healthcare workers delivering newborn services Community health workers and traditional birth attendants International donors funding newborn health
What Does It Aim to Achieve?
Rapidly scale up high-impact newborn interventions in Nigeria to prevent the majority of preventable newborn deaths by 2030, aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 3.
Key Features
High-Impact Interventions: Identifies the five highest-impact interventions for preventing newborn deaths in Nigeria. Scale-Up Pathways: Provides state-by-state scale-up pathways for key interventions. Health System Requirements: Specifies the health system strengthening needed to support newborn intervention scale-up. Accountability: Sets clear targets and a monitoring framework to track progress.
Current Status
Rollout Stage: Active — implementation ongoing Coverage: Nationwide newborn health programmes Beneficiaries: All Nigerian newborns; their families Funding: Federal Government; UNICEF; WHO; bilateral donors
How to Access
Health workers: access the plan through state health ministries Parents: access essential newborn care at any maternity facility Community health workers: trained in home newborn care support Application method: Access at https://www.health.gov.ng
Important Terms
If Nigeria implements the plan fully, approximately 150,000 newborn lives could be saved annually Coverage inequality between states is a key barrier — northern states have particularly high newborn mortality Community-based newborn care can reach the many newborns not born in facilities
Official Resources
Website: https://www.health.gov.ng Contact: Federal Ministry of Health / UNICEF Nigeria
Legal Framework
Developed under the authority of the Federal Ministry of Health pursuant to the National Health Act 2014 and the National Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) Strategy. Aligns with the WHO-UNICEF Every Newborn Action Plan (ENAP), the Global Strategy for Women's, Children's and Adolescents' Health 2016-2030, and the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 on ending preventable neonatal deaths. The NPHCDA Act supports primary healthcare delivery.