The federal government has launched a bold national strategy aimed at transforming women’s health through the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Women’s Health, Dr. Adanna Steinacker. The strategy also aims at advancing gender equity through a data-driven, technology-enabled and financially intelligent approach.
The initiative, known as RenewHER (Renew Health Equity and Reform), was unveiled at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja, on Thursday evening. Vice President Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, led the launch alongside stakeholders in health, governance, and development.
At the event, the Women’s Health Digital Media and Communications Hub was inaugurated. The platform will serve as a national advocacy and storytelling space to amplify women’s voices, spotlight innovations, and sustain conversations around six priority areas: maternal, newborn and child health; sexual and reproductive health; adolescent health and menstrual equity; nutrition and preventive care; healthcare workforce and access; and coalition building.
The launch also featured a presidential keynote address, the premiere of the RenewHER campaign film, a cultural showcase, the Health Innovator Awards, and a symbolic National Pledge Moment to mobilise broad-based support for the programme.
On a one-on-one interview with LEADERSHIP, the senior special assistant to the president on women’s health, Dr. Adanna Steinacker, described RenewHER as “a national call to action to redefine the future of women’s health and economic equity in Nigeria,” noting that the initiative would harness digital tools, community engagement and policy reforms to deliver measurable results.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Steinacker highlighted that women in Nigeria and across the world remain underrepresented and segregated in key development indices. She cited United Nations data showing that it could take more than 120 years to achieve gender equality worldwide if current trends persist. She explained that this gap informed the president’s decision to establish the Office on Women’s Health, stressing that empowering half of the population is both a social and economic imperative. “Including women is an economic priority. It has measurable advantages, when women are healthy, they are more productive, children stay in school, societies are richer, and GDP grows,” she said.
On projected impact, Steinacker disclosed that one of the office’s flagship programmes, the Women’s Health Nigeria Digital Hub, aims to reach more than 100 million Nigerians within three years through health education, advocacy, and campaigns to combat misinformation and improve health-seeking behaviours. She added that project-specific targets for on-ground campaigns would depend on geopolitical contexts and community priorities.
Key strategic partners include the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum (NGSF), the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and the Women in Healthcare Network (WIHCN). Through these collaborations, RenewHER is also expected to create economic opportunities for women via digital wallets, microgrants, skills training and women-led innovations.
Stakeholders at the launch agreed that advancing women’s health is central to national development and called for sustained collaboration between government, the private sector, and civil society to ensure long-term impact.
