Programmes & Policy

Strengthening Systems & Community Linkages

  • National collaboration network: Providers of neonatal care convened with stronger collaboration; regional coordinators identified to lead zone activities and provide feedback to NISONM leadership.
  • Situation Analysis & Action Plan (2009): Facilitated production of the Situation Analysis and Action Plan for Newborn Health in Nigeria (within the IMNCH strategy), launched by the then First Lady of Nigeria, Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua.
  • Community-linkage programme: Launched in Oghara, Ethiope West LGA, Delta State.
  • NISONM Strategy Document: Developed and launched to articulate modalities for improved maternal and newborn care at community level.
  • Neonatal Jaundice Project: Led the development of the Nigerian consensus statement on newborn jaundice; ongoing support to centres for further CURHe activities.
  • Newborn Discharge Guide: Produced in English and translated into Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba.
Training, Research & Clinical Support

Building Capacity & Evidence

  • Structured trainings: Helping Babies Breathe (HBB), bubble CPAP, neonatal ventilation, neonatal respiratory support, Essential Newborn Care Course (ENCC), and neonatal resuscitation trainings.
  • Research support: Backed multiple publications, including an evaluation of simulation-based ENCC training on the cognitive knowledge of different cadres of healthcare workers in Nigeria.
  • HBB equipment scale-up: Distributed Ambu bags and masks in selected communities trained on HBB.
  • ROP elimination partnership: Collaboration with NIPOSS towards elimination of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Nigeria.
  • PAN/NISONM – MCSP: Maternal and Child Survival Project collaboration advancing newborn care quality and coverage.
  • FMOH/PAN/NISONM/AAP collaboration: With AAP support, 150 PAN/NISONM members trained on Essential Newborn Care via Training-of-Trainers; mannequins provided to enable nationwide step-down trainings.


Ongoing Collaborations & Volunteer Mentoring

Continued collaboration is essential to end preventable deaths among Nigerian mothers and newborns. PAN/NISONM have articulated clear guidelines, and a logbook-based implementation of the volunteer mentoring scheme has commenced in MCSP project states of Kogi and Ebonyi. Expansion to additional states is in progress through collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).