Pate Declares ‘Nigeria Is Building a Health System That Delivers for Everyone’

TOYIN ADEBAYO, ABUJA

Nigeria’s drive toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) received a major boost on Friday as the Federal Government and key stakeholders signed the expanded UHC Compact Addendum, extending accountability obligations to private sector actors, Local Government Authorities, traditional institutions and other ministries for the first time.

Speaking at the closing session of the 2025 Health Sector–Wide Joint Annual Review (JAR) in Abuja, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, said the renewed commitments mark “a decisive step to build a health system that delivers measurable results for every Nigerian, no matter who they are or where they live.”

The three-day Review, held from November 12–14 at Transcorp Event Centre, Maitama, brought together nearly 1,000 participants double the turnout in 2024 representing federal and state governments, development partners, the private sector, academia, civil society, traditional institutions, ALGON and the media.

Pate, who co-chaired the event with Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako, said the Compact expansion, new digital tools, and performance resolutions endorsed at the meeting would “accelerate delivery under the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII)” and reposition the sector on the path to Universal Health Coverage.

The signing of the Addendum seen as the most consequential outcome of the Review integrates new actors into Nigeria’s accountability structure and responds to global shifts in health financing. It also introduces a clearer “Ask-and-Offer” framework to strengthen transparency among all stakeholders.

Five NHSRII Spotlight Sessions revealed significant progress across key priorities: Up to 17% reduction in maternal mortality in early-implementing LGAs under the MAMII initiative; Improvements in primary healthcare (PHC) functionality, emergency referrals and health insurance uptake; Gains in local pharmaceutical and diagnostics manufacturing; Strengthened surveillance, laboratory systems and emergency operations for health security; and Data-driven governance reforms ahead of expected declines in external funding.

Delegates reviewed innovations including: The BHCPF digital platform; National e-learning system for health workers; PHC revitalization dashboards; SAVE MAMA from RESMAT; and NHIA digital claims platform

Stakeholders agreed that digitalisation remains central to transparency and real-time monitoring.

For the first time, the JAR hosted an open dialogue on corruption, featuring case studies from BHCPF utilisation and cross-agency reviews. Participants acknowledged persistent gaps, including ghost workers, irregular payments, double expenditures and weak fiscal tracking.

The Review resolved to introduce biometric verification across all PHCs and insurance platforms by Q1 2026 and implement digital expenditure tracking across BHCPF facilities by Q3 2026.

An expanded Inter-Agency Coordinating Committee (ICC) session enabled frank engagement on Nigeria’s immunisation performance, vaccine financing and data quality. The meeting underscored the need for predictable counterpart contributions and stricter use of validated data sources.

More than 45 abstracts and exhibits were showcased at the JAR Learning Exhibition, while a People’s Pulse Town Hall amplified citizen feedback on cost of care, service quality, health worker behaviour and facility responsiveness.

Several national products forming an integrated planning and accountability framework were launched, including: National CEmONC Facility Readiness Assessment Report; Climate and Health National Adaptation Plan; Second National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS-2); N-CAS Strategy for harmonised campaigns; Mini-DHS Framework for annual, high-fidelity outcome tracking; and Data quality and visibility tools such as HSSB, NHFR, NHMIS Assessment and MSDAT

The Review highlighted strong gains but raised concerns in several areas:

Governance: Fewer than half of states have functional coordination platforms aligned with SWAp principles.

Maternal & Newborn Health: Only 32% of facilities meet minimum CEmONC readiness; blood shortages remain critical.

PHC Service Readiness: Staffing deficits, commodity stockouts and inadequate emergency obstetric care persist.

Health Financing: Over 2.4 million vulnerable Nigerians enrolled in insurance schemes, but external funding declines pose risks.

SRH Access: Only 30% of BHCPF facilities offer the full suite of SRH services; 86% of the population faces access barriers.

Local Manufacturing: Over 40 private manufacturers are engaged, but scalability requires stronger industrial policies.

Participants adopted far-reaching resolutions, including: Operationalise the UHC Compact Addendum by Q1 2026 with a robust tracking system; Biometric verification nationwide across PHCs and insurance platforms to eliminate ghost workers; Digital expenditure tracking in all BHCPF-supported facilities by Q3 2026; Strengthen data governance and optimise DHIS2 for accurate decision-making; Establish a National Human Resources for Health programme and explore new cadres of the future workforce; Scale up MAMII nationally and fully implement MPCDSR and referral systems by Q4 2026; Improve Sexual and Reproductive Health access through policy domestication, financing and community engagement; and Deploy and scale PHC Financial Management Systems to enhance real-time oversight.

In addition, enroll 5 million Nigerians into health insurance by end-2026, including 1 million vulnerable citizens; Operationalise Medipool and boost local production, targeting 20 priority commodities and five new manufacturing plants by 2026; Guarantee full release of government counterpart funding for vaccines; Strengthen state and LGA delivery systems, including DRF accountability and emergency response capacity; and Institute data-guided monitoring using national and state health accounts to improve resource allocation.