The First Lady of Nigeria, Remi Tinubu, has elevated her commitment to improving maternal and child healthcare by donating 10,000,000 professional kits to midwives across the South-West region, enhancing their capacity to provide quality care.
The donation, which complements the ongoing Federal Government’s retraining exercise for 1,200 healthcare workers, aims to enhance maternal healthcare services in the region.
According to Tinubu, this donation was made possible through an anonymous global partner’s support she encountered at the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a meeting at the African Union Summit in 2024.
“The donor is committed to supporting the organization of the African First Lady in Development and the health care sector in Nigeria, with the specific focus of reducing infant and maternal morbidity and mortality,” she stated.
The First Lady announced this during a flag-off ceremony in Ondo State, where she handed over 10,000 professional kits to the National Health Care Development Agency for distribution to midwives across Southwest states.
In addition to this initiative, she presented N50 million to Ondo State’s First Lady, Oluwaseun Aiyedatiwa, to empower 1,000 petty traders with N50,000 each to boost their businesses.
Furthermore, 200 women in the textile industry received two bales of African print each as part of the empowerment initiative.
“In the spirit of today, we will be presenting an additional grant of 50 million Naira to the first lady of Ondo state to support 1,000 women petty traders in Ondo state with the sum of 50 thousand each to recapitalize their existing business.”
“After we leave this hall, we are also empowering 200 women who are in the textile business. We brought about 400 bales of African print, and we are going to give two bales each to one of the 200 women and part of the 1000 women to empower 200 of them would get the grant of N50,000,” she added.
Earlier, Tinubu disclosed that she would be launching a healthcare campaign themed “Free to Shine” for HIV/AIDS, Syphilis, and Hepatitis patients in Ondo.
“This initiative aims to promote healthier mothers, reduce new HIV infection amongst women of reproductive age, and eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, which is also the vertical transmission, and provide treatment to children born with the infection,” she said.
The first lady, meanwhile, commended the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency’s leadership, led by Muyi Aina, for their partnership and commitment towards improving citizens’ health.
