By Ojoma Akor
The federal government says it is working assiduously to ensure access to quality health care without incurring financial hardship for all Nigerians.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, stated this during the commemoration of this year’s Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day by the ministry.
He said, ” For us, our position, and that is the position of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is that ideally, all Nigerians should not have to choose between health and feeding their families or just making other choices about their lives.
“Health should be affordable, but we are on that journey; our vision is to be at that point where a family shouldn’t have to choose between paying for healthcare access and buying food for their children. That should be the vision that drives what we do, and that’s what we have been doing over the last few years. And as Nigerians would attest, President Bola has been a powerful champion for the health sector with the many bold and coordinated steps that he has encouraged us to take to transform Nigeria’s healthcare system and protect Nigerians from financial hardship.”
He said the government has been diligently carrying this out with the fundamental goal of saving lives, reducing financial and physical pain, and producing health for all Nigerians.
He said, ” Our aspiration is ultimately for every Nigerian, regardless of their location or income, to have access to quality health services.”
While describing UHC as a national economic strategy for improving productivity and prosperity, the minister said this is because health is a right and key to human capital accumulation.
He also said that UHC is a strategic imperative, embedded in Nigeria’s economic development aspirations.
Prof. Pate added that the resources allocated to health have also increased over the last few years.
” Our emphasis on data-driven decision-making, the digital transformation efforts, improving transparency and accountability, strengthening state and local government leadership, and primary health care, which is the most important sort of foundational element, is delivered really at the front lines, at the state and local government levels. And we have been pushing for shifts in financing, because you can talk about this, unless you shift resources, nothing will change.”
According to him, with the expansion of fiscal space and macro-level reforms, federal and state investment in health has increased.
He said, “We need to see a lot more at the state level. At least each state should increase its allocation and spending on health. At the same time, at the federal level, we have to increase our absorptive capacity, because even if it’s allocated, the ministry and others must be able to use it. As the World Health Organization (WHO) has mentioned, to mobilize sustainable financing, Nigeria led the world at the World Health Assembly in 2025 in passing the resolution on health financing. The only resolution on health financing that was passed at the World Health Assembly, which is strengthening health financing globally, including domestic one.”
The minister added that sustainable financing requires thinking about health taxes, other innovative financing arrangements, well-designed, well-executed public-private partnerships, mobilizing private capital, and expanding the risk pool through insurance, especially to bring informal workers and ensure vulnerable groups are not left behind.
The WHO Country Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Pavel Ursu, said that too many people are still bearing the cost of unaffordable health care, a barrier to accessing services.
He said that out-of-pocket payments dominate health financing arrangements in many countries.
Dr Ursu said that in the African region, in 31 of the countries, more than a quarter of all expenditure is out of pocket.
He also said that out-of-pocket expenditure in Nigeria exceeds 70%.
He said, “The situation is improving in many parts, but the progress is uneven. I want to note that when faced with severe financial hardship, people are in a challenging position. They have to decide whether to seek care, cover the basic cost, or pay for school fees and so on. So, obviously, this is a complicated topic and an onerous burden for households. Still, we have also seen several very positive messages in the report, and what belongs to the African continent belongs to Nigeria. “
He also said there are many commitments globally and ongoing reforms. ‘I think now is exactly the time when commitments should turn into actions. And on these days, today, on the UHC day of 2025, we renew our shared promise of health for all and leaving no one behind,” he added.
The Africa CDC’s regional director for West Africa, Dr. Alinon Kokou, said UHC, as the African Union and the Africa CDC, is driven by the Lusaka Agenda (which is a shared commitment to partnership, both at the government and across the continent and the globe, of course).
Represented by Titilola Munkail, technical officer, country programs, Africa CDC, he said this is measured by the Lusaka Agenda Monitoring Framework at the African CDC, with member states driving most of the agenda.
He said that Nigeria remains a central point of reference for all member states across the continent to drive it, be it in domestic and innovative financing.
He said, “We remain very proud of your leadership and the strides that Nigeria has attained in recent times. We remain committed to supporting Nigeria.”
