This Frontline Friday, I am delighted to reflect on the frontline impact of Project Oscar – Light For Life, our Wellbeing Africa Foundation Neonatal Jaundice Screening, Treatment, and Kernicterus Prevention Programme in Lagos State.

Every new mother deserves the reassurance that her baby will be safe, seen, and supported from the very first days of life. Yet neonatal jaundice remains one of the most common and overlooked risks facing newborns. In Nigeria, between five and fourteen per cent of newborn deaths are linked to untreated jaundice, and the condition is a leading cause of preventable, lifelong disability.

Through Project Oscar – Light for Life, rooted in the lived experience and advocacy of Oscar Anderson, supported by our Wellbeing Africa Foundation social impact partners Reckitt, and delivered in partnership with Solina Centre for International Development and Research -SCIDaR, NEST360, and the Lagos State Ministry of Health, we are ensuring that no mother is left to guess, and no baby is left to face harm that can be prevented. By equipping 16 facilities across Lagos with modern bilirubin screening devices and safe phototherapy units, and by already training 187 master trainers towards a cascade target of 300 healthcare professionals, we are transforming both confidence and competence at the frontline of care.

Equally important is the education of mothers and families, with Project Oscar having reached more than 68,000 women, pregnant and nursing mothers, through our MamaCare360 midwife-led counselling, teaching them to recognise early warning signs and use simple home tools like bilistrips.

We are further encouraged to welcome an in-kind digital contribution commitment from Picterus as we explore the integration of digital screening tools within Project Oscar. This marks an important step forward in demonstrating how digital innovation can be aligned with frontline capacity to strengthen neonatal jaundice detection and care.

As the World Health Organization has emphasised, patient safety begins with newborn safety, and when we protect the smallest lives, we build the strongest foundation for new moms, families, communities, and nations.