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Funding Cuts and Renewed Boko Haram Violence Deepen Maternal Health Crisis in Northeast Nigeria

U.S. funding halted this year, leaving clinics underfunded.

A midwife checks a pregnant woman at a facility run by aid group International Rescue Committee, in Magumeri, in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Aisha Muhammed, a 25-year-old woman, who had eclampsia, is photographed at her house in Konduga, in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A midwife checks a Falmata Muhammed's blood pressure at a facility run by aid agency International Rescue Committee, in Magumeri, in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
A view of a ward in a government hospital in Konduga, in northeast Nigeria's Borno state, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Overview

  • Boko Haram assaults have intensified in Borno state, with near-daily attacks closing roads and turning towns into military garrisons that block access to care.
  • Major USAID programs have been dismantled, removing nearly $4 billion in 2020–2025 U.S. aid, including $423 million for maternal health and family planning.
  • Nigeria announced a $200 million emergency health allocation, yet the 2025 family-planning budget dropped by almost 97%, widening service gaps.
  • WHO data show Nigeria recorded about 75,000 maternal deaths in 2023—over a quarter of the global total—with at least one in 100 women dying in childbirth.
  • Clinics struggle to recruit as doctors in Borno earn roughly $99 to $156 a month, leaving facilities understaffed and forcing risky journeys that have proved fatal.