In health system terms, fragility refers to the inability of health facilities to consistently deliver essential health services due to disrupted infrastructure, shortage of workforce, financing gaps, and poor coordination.

Healthcare systems in Africa face a wide range of challenges. The region carries about 25% of the global disease burden but is served by only 3% of the world’s health workforce, leaving many countries with critical shortages of doctors, nurses, and other health professionals

Nigeria accounts for roughly 20-29% of global maternal deaths, with an estimated maternal mortality ratio estimated at 993 per 100,000 live births (2023) often driven by low uptake of modern contraception

Nigeria bears a disproportionate impact of the AMR burden.

When Fatima, 28-year-old expectant mother from Northern Nigeria, visited a primary healthcare centre in her vicinity for her third antenatal check-up, she was told her haemoglobin levels were still low, despite having diligently taken her iron-folic acid tablets for months.