Federal Government Moves to Coordinate Interventions on Women’s Health

The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women’s Health, has commenced plans to streamline interventions aimed at addressing health challenges affecting Nigerian women.

Dr Adanna Steinacker, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women’s Health, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting with a coalition of women leaders and representatives of women’s groups and non-governmental organisations.

The meeting was convened by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and facilitated by the OSSAP-Women’s Health.

Steinacker said her office was adopting a nationwide approach to ensure that women’s health is prioritised within the broader framework of national development.

She noted that OSSAP-WH was launched by President Bola Tinubu on September 11, 2025, alongside its flagship initiative, RenewHER an acronym for Health, Equity and Reform.

The initiative, she explained, is designed to coordinate policies relating to women’s health in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

Steinacker outlined the three pillars of RenewHER, beginning with a digital media and advocacy hub aimed at bridging the knowledge gap on women and girls’ health across the country.

“There is a lack of knowledge on how to access and understand the services the government has provided. We are prioritising digital media as a means to disseminate accurate, evidence-based information that increases the health literacy of our population,” she said.

The second pillar, she added, focuses on geopolitically anchored campaigns implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to identify and address region-specific priority issues.

The third component involves the organisation of coalitions, symposia, and summits to build a collaborative network dedicated to advancing women’s health in Nigeria.

Steinacker emphasised that the Federal Ministry of Health was determined to break down institutional silos and reposition women’s health as a shared national agenda.

Also speaking, the Mandate Secretary of the Health Services and Environment Secretariat, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, pledged her office’s readiness to support initiatives aimed at improving women’s health and wellbeing.