MTN Group Foundation and the Gates Foundation have committed $25 million to efforts aimed at reducing maternal mortality in Nigeria through 2030 under a new maternal health partnership.

The four-year initiative, known as the Maternal Health Multiplier platform, will focus on expanding access to AI-enabled maternal healthcare by making smartphones, mobile data and improved connectivity more affordable and accessible to pregnant women and healthcare facilities.

The programme is expected to reach 500,000 women, 5,000 frontline health workers and 500 health facilities across Nigeria.

As part of the initiative, phone-based AI decision-support tools will give mothers and frontline health workers access to trusted, locally relevant health information. The tools are also intended to support the early identification of complications during pregnancy and childbirth.

The partnership will complement existing healthcare services through increased access to smartphones and mobile data, while also improving connectivity at healthcare facilities.

According to figures cited in the report, Nigeria continues to account for nearly 30 per cent of maternal deaths globally.

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, said partnerships such as the initiative could help strengthen the systems required to translate technology and innovation into improved public services.

Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Ali Pate, said strengthening primary healthcare and equipping frontline health workers were central to ongoing reforms in the health sector.

MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita said the initiative would initially concentrate on Nigeria, with the ambition of developing a model that could eventually be scaled to improve maternal and child health outcomes across Africa.

Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said the partnership was intended to ensure that the benefits of AI-enabled healthcare reach people who might otherwise be unable to afford or access such technologies.

The partnership was announced at Semafor’s Next 3 Billion event in New York, on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Source:msmeafricaonline