Amina Alinoma

A Nigerian public health advocate who revolutionized maternal care through community-based midwifery programs.

Amina J. Ali-Noma is a pioneering Nigerian public health leader whose community midwifery model has drastically reduced maternal mortality in Northern Nigeria. Born in 1972, she founded the Women's Health and Education Center (WHES) in 2003, introducing trained midwives into rural villages where 90% of births previously occurred at home without medical supervision.

Her approach combines traditional knowledge with modern medical practices, training local women as midwives who provide prenatal care, safe delivery assistance, and postnatal support. By 2015, WHES had deployed 15,000 midwives across 18 states, reducing maternal deaths in participating regions by 60%. This model inspired similar programs in Ethiopia and Mali through her African Midwifery Initiative.

Alinoma's innovation extends beyond healthcare delivery. She developed the HealthTrack Africa app, which uses SMS and basic phones to monitor pregnancy progress in areas with no internet. This system has tracked over 500,000 pregnancies, alerting communities to complications before they become critical. Her 2018 book 《Bringing Life to Light》 details these strategies, earning accolades from the World Health Organization.

Her advocacy led to Nigeria's 2018 policy mandating midwifery training in all nursing schools. She also partners with UNICEF on the Nigeria Newborn Survival Plan, which aims to end preventable child deaths by 2030. Alinoma's work has been profiled in Nature magazine and the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index.

Currently, she leads the African Health Innovators Network, supporting 200+ grassroots health projects across 34 countries. Her vision of 'healthcare from within' ensures solutions are culturally appropriate and sustainable, proving that local expertise can solve global health challenges.