The Federal Government has announced a 17 per cent reduction in maternal deaths and a 12 per cent decline in newborn deaths across 172 high-burden local government areas following interventions under its Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative.

The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziak Kunle Salako, disclosed this on Friday at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the flag-off and distribution of Advanced Trauma Life Support and tricycle ambulances to selected health facilities in the state.

Salako said the initiative, implemented through the National Emergency Medical Services and Ambulance System (NEMSAS), had also enabled more than 48,000 women to access free emergency obstetric care, while over 4,000 women received free caesarean sections in NHIA-empanelled facilities.

According to the minister, the figures demonstrate the potential impact of timely emergency medical intervention, particularly in situations where delays in transportation and access to definitive care can mean the difference between life and death.

He said emergency medical services were a critical link between the onset of an emergency and the delivery of appropriate hospital care.

He noted that maternal emergencies, road crashes, strokes, heart attacks and other life-threatening conditions often require rapid intervention.

“Every day, precious lives are lost not because illnesses or injuries are beyond treatment, but because emergency care is delayed, fragmented, inaccessible, or entirely unavailable,” he said.

The minister explained that the Federal Government was therefore moving beyond the mere provision of ambulances to building a coordinated emergency-care system linking transportation, trained personnel, communication systems, referral pathways and hospitals.

As part of the first phase of the intervention, Salako said the Federal Government had acquired 145 tricycle ambulances, six boats, 15 Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances and 79 Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, alongside laptops, printers and communication devices.

Ogun State, he said, received three ALS ambulances, one BLS ambulance and nine tricycle ambulances for deployment to federal and state tertiary institutions, as well as selected high-volume, remote and underserved healthcare facilities.

He said the intervention was designed to improve emergency response across the state, including hard-to-reach rural communities where delays in accessing healthcare can have fatal consequences.

Salako, however, stressed that the success of the programme would ultimately be determined by how effectively the ambulances were deployed and maintained.

He urged the Ogun State Government and beneficiary facilities to ensure that the vehicles remained available for emergency response, were properly maintained and operated exclusively for designated medical emergency functions.

The minister also called for trained personnel, effective monitoring and accountability mechanisms to ensure that the federal government's investment translated into improved patient outcomes.

He urged stakeholders to sustain collaboration between federal and state authorities, healthcare facilities, emergency responders and communities to build an emergency medical system that is accessible, responsive and sustainable.

Salako said the Federal Government would continue to strengthen NEMSAS and work with relevant agencies and the legislative arm to address the fragmented framework governing first responders and emergency management in the country.

He said the ultimate objective was to ensure that Nigerians could receive timely emergency care regardless of their location or financial circumstances.