………….Ensures Young Infants and Newborns Life-saving Caring.
Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen management and prevention of Possible Serious Bacterial Infections (PSBI) among young infants and newborns.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate gave the assurance on Wednesday 22nd April 2026 at one-day National Dissemination of Research Findings meeting on the Management of Possible Serious Bacterial Infection among young infants held in Abuja.
Represented by the Director, Family Health Department Dr. John Ovoraye the Health Minister, said that Possible Serious Bacterial Infection remains a significant contributor to neonatal morbidity and mortality particularly in low resource settings like Nigeria, lamenting that despite considerable progress in improving child survival, infections in the first two months of life continue to account for a substantial proportion of under five deaths.
“This underscores the urgency of our approaches to early identification, timely referral and effective management of this condition.”
Outlining the Ministry’s commitments, Pate enumerated that Possible serious bacterial infection management is well integrated into broader national strategies ,including the Nigeria Child Survival Action Plan, which outlines the country’s roadmap for reducing under five mortality.
He added that “We have also aligned our interventions with integrated management of childhood illness strategies, which provides standardized protocols for identifying and referringYoung infants and children presenting PSBI. “This ensures a comprehensive approach to child health, that addresses multiple conditions in an integrated manner.” the Coordinating Minister stressed
Muhammad Ali Pate maintained that the Ministry remains committed, to ensuring that every newborn and young infant in Nigeria has access to timely, effective, and life-saving care, reaffirming that within the broader health system, the document has been instrumental in guiding service delivery at the primary healthcare level, assuring that government will continue to strengthen policies, improve service delivery, and collaborate with partners to achieve goals.
He described the dissemination as timely and critical noting that the reviewed research findings provide a unique opportunity to reflect on implementation experiences across different contexts, assess the effectiveness of current strategies, and identify practical solutions to improve service delivery for young infants.
“To this dissemination is therefore both timely and critical, the research findings we are about to review, provide us with evidence-based insights into what is working, what is not working. And where we need to strengthen our efforts.” Pate said.
The Coordinating Minister further explained that the meeting provided opportunity to align efforts with broader national priorities, including the reduction of neonatal and child mortality and the achievement of universal health coverage. “The insights generated here will contribute significantly, to shaping policies, refining guidelines, and improving program implementation.” He noted.
He expressed appreciation to all partners, Researchers and frontline health workers, for making the engagement possible and their continued collaboration and commitment to improving newborn and child health outcomes in Nigeria, acknowledging that their support remains critical in reducing neonatal morbidity and mortality across the country.
The reviewer of the research findings, Professor Robinson Wammanda, traced the history of research on Possible Serious Bacterial Infections,noted that it was a more than 30 years journey, which now conducted on evidence based practice, explaining that when the recent findings are published will help countries like Nigeria to implement the strategy in their resource-limited communities.
Dr. Amina Muhammad, the Director, Child health division of the Ministry appreciated the entire participants for fruitful discussions and promised to present the outcomes of the deliberations to the Honourable Minister for necessary action.
Ado Bako
Assistant Director, Information and Public Relations
