In one of the world’s most populous countries, controlling epidemics such as malaria, HIV and AIDS, and TB and improving maternal and child health care are among the most critical avenues to preventing deaths. We work in collaboration with Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), frontline health workers, and local communities across the country, helping national and state governments establish effective policies, address gaps in the supply chain for medicines and commodities, and strengthen leadership and management within the health sector.

Highlights: 

• The US President’s Malaria Initiative for States (PMI-S) project is USAID Nigeria and PMI’s flagship project to reduce malaria mortality and morbidity in Nigeria. PMI-S supports the Government of Nigeria through its agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to improve quality and access to services for the prevention and management of malaria and its complications.

• In Nigeria, the MSH-led USAID MTaPS program aims to strengthen technical and managerial capacities within the human and animal health systems under the program’s mandate for the Global Health Security Agenda. To improve the country's preparedness in addressing antimicrobial resistance, MTaPS is working with the antimicrobial resistance technical working group secretariat at Nigeria Center for Disease Control to strengthen infection prevention and control measures and foster antimicrobial stewardship activities in health facilities. Pilot programs were established in three hospitals during the first year of implementation to serve as models for adoption nationwide.

• With funding from The Gates Foundation, MSH will lead and manage the Tobacco Policy Action Fund for Africa (TOPAFA), launched October of 2019. The fund supports eligible governments in sub-Saharan African countries with the implementation of tobacco control policies through results-based grants and peer-to-peer learning. Grants have so far been awarded to the governments of Benin, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, and the Gambia. 

• Under the Global Fund Malaria Grant, MSH helped train over 20,000 Nigeria health workers on treating severe and uncomplicated malaria and over 1,000 health workers on integrated management of childhood illnesses. The Grant’s goal is to reduce the malaria burden in Nigeria and bring malaria-related mortality to zero by encouraging the use of insecticide-treated bednets, increasing malaria diagnosis, and supporting prompt and effective treatment of malaria.

• With funding from The Global Fund, MSH worked with Nigeria's Center for Disease Control, the Department of Health Planning Research and Statistics at the FMoH, and the National Product Supply Chain Management Program to strengthen and expand the capacity of its national and state-level health systems through the Resilient and Sustainable Systems for Health (RSSH) project. State-level interventions supported by RSSH included public financial management, the state health insurance scheme, and organizational and labor market assessments.

• With funding from USAID and PEPFAR, the Care and Treatment for Sustained Support (CaTSS) project provided HIV testing to 1,093,092 Nigerians and supported nearly 35,000 of those who tested positive to adhere to lifesaving antiretroviral treatment. By the end of the project, more than 85% of the individuals on treatment successfully suppressed the virus, and 77% of the individuals who suppressed the virus achieved an undetectable status and therefore cannot transmit the virus to others. 

• Through the Program to Build Leadership and Accountability in Nigeria’s Health System (PLAN-Health)—part of the USAID-funded global Leadership, Management and Governance Program—MSH provided training, practical experience, and licenses to traditional and faith-based birth attendants, who are an important part of Nigeria’s private health service sector. By helping align service provision with national standards, MSH supported the FMOH to increase access to high-quality maternal and newborn health services.