The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), Prof. Ememabasi Bassey, has expressed concern over high rate of maternal deaths in Nigeria, and identified haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, sepsis, obstructed labour and complications of unsafe abortion among the leading direct causes of maternal deaths in Nigeria.
Bassey recalled that an estimated 74,559 Nigerian women who died from pregnancy-related causes in 2023, noting that the alarm figure represented about 204 deaths daily, while the maternal mortality ratio remains close to 1,000 deaths per 100,000 live births, adding that an estimated maternal mortality ratio of 774 per 100,000 live births are recorded in Akwa Ibom State.
He pointed out that most maternal deaths occurred, not because of medical action but due to the fact that medical care arrive a little too late.
Bassey, a former Commissioner for Health, therefore, called for a fundamental shift in Nigeria’s approach to women’s healthcare, urging the country to adopt a comprehensive life-course strategy anchored on prevention, equitable access, clinical excellence, evidence-based policy and transformational leadership.
The UUTH CMD, gave this insight while presenting the 139th in the series of Inaugural Lecture of the University of Uyo (UNIUYO), entitled titled; “A Lifetime of Wellness: Advancing Women’s Health through Clinical Excellence, Policy and Leadership,” which held at the 1,000 – capacity TETfund auditorium of the Nwaniba, Uyo, main campus of the institution.
The Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology argued that women’s health should not be treated as a series of isolated medical episodes, but as a lifelong journey beginning from adolescence and extending through the reproductive years, menopause and healthy ageing.
He said Nigeria must move away from an approach that largely responds to disease after it occurs and instead invest more deliberately in prevention, early diagnosis, continuity of care and equitable access to quality health services.
According to him, sustainable improvement in women’s health depends on the convergence of clinical excellence, evidence-informed policy and transformational leadership, with clinical excellence protecting individual patients, policy creating an enabling environment for equitable care, and leadership providing coordination, accountability and implementation.
Bassey expressed concern over Nigeria’s continuing maternal mortality crisis, describing maternal death as both a clinical tragedy and a measure of health-system performance and equity.
He said women often die not because effective medical interventions are unavailable, but because the interventions arrive too late, highlighting four critical delays: the decision to seek care, reaching an appropriate facility, receiving appropriate treatment, and failures in leadership, governance and health-system responsiveness.
Bassey, who has participated in maternal mortality research, noted that strengthening emergency obstetric services had produced significant reductions in case fatalities, including reductions of 81.9 per cent for obstetric haemorrhage, 80.5 per cent for obstructed labour, 74.8 per cent for ruptured uterus and 54.2 per cent for eclampsia.
He, therefore, stressed the need for functional emergency obstetric services, reliable referral systems, blood transfusion services, skilled birth attendance, maternal death surveillance and universal financial protection for maternity care.
“No Nigerian woman should die from a cause that modern medicine knows how to prevent,” he declared.
The inaugural lecturer broadened his concern to adolescent reproductive health, HIV and other infectious diseases, infertility, cancers and the psychological wellbeing of women.
He stressed that investment in adolescent reproductive health would have long-term benefits for maternal health, education, productivity and family wellbeing, while calling for comprehensive sexuality education, youth-friendly reproductive health services, contraception, STI prevention and HPV vaccination.
On infertility, Bassey argued that the condition should be treated as a couple’s health issue, rather than a problem affecting women alone. His research at UUTH found that 79 per cent of 633 male partners studied had abnormal seminal-fluid parameters, underscoring the importance of evaluating both partners simultaneously.
He also advocated stronger cancer prevention and early detection, particularly through HPV vaccination, organised screening, improved pathology services, multidisciplinary cancer care and expanded oncology infrastructure.
Bassey said Nigeria had developed several policies and programmes aimed at improving women’s health, but implementation remained the major challenge.
He identified political commitment, adequate financing, strong health systems, quality clinical services, accountability and equitable access as essential elements for translating policy into measurable health outcomes.
His message was emphatic: “Policy documents do not save lives. Implementation does.”
