In the Northwest zones of Nigeria, the natural event of pregnancy puts women at greater risk of death than almost anywhere else in the world. An average of 1,025 pregnancies out of 100,000 live births will end in the death of the mother. In developed countries this is currently 100 per 100,000. 59% of women in the Katsina and Zamfara do not access antenatal care, and skilled healthcare personnel attend only 44% of deliveries.

In Nigeria PADEAP work towards the integration of services for maternal, newborn and child Health, HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as well as strengthening Health Management Information Systems. To reinforce the Midwives recently deployed to local health facilities nationwide, PADEAP continues to deliver training in partnership with Primary Health care centres and local Government hospitals in Katisna State to increase the number of core services providers including Community Health Extension Workers, with a focus on deploying more skilled health staff in rural areas.

Monthly immunization and community Health for All sessions

PADEAP Nigeria partnered with ‘Community Participation For Action in the Social Sector’ COMPASS a DFID funded programme ‘Partnership for reviving routine immunization in Northern Nigerian’ (PRRINN) to initiate a monthly immunization and house to house advocacy. COMPASS collaborates with PADEAP Nigeria to train selected birth attendants on administering immunization and recording birth attendance while PRRINN takes care of the advocacy for acceptance and data capture while targeting to increase participation for immunization by members of the rural community.

PRINN has chosen routine immunization as their key focus in Katsina State to improve the health of children in the state due to the low immunization rate. Working with PADEAP Nigeria it is localizing the programme in Funtua local government, Katsina state.  PRRINN currently works in 12 local governments in four states Kaduna, Jigawa, Katsina, of the Northwest zone. A total of 50 women trained with PADEAP have benefited from the immunization training and are currently employed by COMPASS.  The immunization programme is now fully operational in the 11 wards of Funtua Local Government.

In the last 3 years 5,500 women, Muslim and Christian have attended the Health for All open discussion sessions with doctors, nurses, public health workers and midwives answering questions. HIV/Aids has been a topic for discussion on several occasions, as well as the high incidence of early marriages for girls and polygamy that has increased the levels of maternal mortality, STD infection and Vesicovaginal fistula (VVF) in North West Nigeria.