The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, has said the health sector has met all 41 performance commitments set by President Bola Tinubu at the beginning of the administration.
Pate disclosed this on Tuesday, at the 2026 Joint Annual Review of the Health Sector, held in Abuja, under the theme, “Together to Higher Ground: Make Reform Data Count.”
The minister’s scorecard came just as the National Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) health reform initiative, Dr. Muntaqa Umar Sadiq, said there had been positive developments in the country’s health indices, with maternal deaths declining by 60 per cent.
In the same vein, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) said states had raised their combined health budgets from N1.97 trillion in 2023 to N3.3 trillion in 2026, in line with commitments under the Health Sector Compact.
Pate, who highlighted achievements recorded in the last three years, said President Tinubu had placed health among the principal priorities of the Renewed Hope Agenda, with the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and the Health Sector Strategic Blueprint giving the sector a clear purpose: to save lives, reduce physical and financial pain, and produce health for all Nigerians.
He recalled that three years ago, financing was inadequate and unfairly distributed, governance was fragmented, partner support was unaligned, commodities were unreliable, and many frontline workers had gone years without refresher training.
The response, he said, was organised around four pillars: improving governance, transparency and accountability; improving population health; unlocking the healthcare value chain; and strengthening health security and resilience.
Through the Sector-Wide Approach, the government aligned resources around One Plan, One Budget, One Report, One Conversation and One Voice, with the Health Sector Compact signed in December 2023 and later expanded to include local governments, civil society, traditional and religious institutions, and the private sector.
With regard to health financing, Pate said cumulative Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) releases since 2019 had reached about N422.3 billion by October 2026, of which N249.5 billion was disbursed under the current administration. An MoU has been signed with the ICPC to track the funds.
On primary healthcare, Pate said 3,526 primary healthcare centres had been revitalised, with work underway on a further 900. The sector recruited 19,758 skilled birth attendants and 4,747 community health workers, while 78,054 frontline workers were trained.
In total, 24,505 new health workers were recruited, and admission quotas in pre-service institutions were doubled.
He said service utilisation had increased sharply. BHCPF facilities recorded 7.9 million skilled deliveries by the second quarter of 2026, up from 4.8 million in 2023, while fourth antenatal care visits rose from six million to 8.7 million.
Measles and rubella vaccination reached 100 million children, while more than 17 million adolescent girls were vaccinated against human papillomavirus.
Through the Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), 750,000 pregnant women were linked to functional facilities, while emergency transport in 171 of 172 MAMII local government areas moved 104,566 women and newborns.
Nearly 100,000 free emergency obstetric services have been delivered, including 80,906 caesarean sections and 6,059 fistula repairs. Deaths from obstetric emergencies fell by 22 per cent in participating facilities, while maternal case fatality in MAMII areas fell by about 60 per cent between 2024 and 2026.
Health insurance coverage rose from about 16 million to nearly 24 million Nigerians. Dialysis costs were cut by up to 80 per cent for 5,106 patients, while the free 48-hour emergency care programme has benefited more than 15,000 Nigerians across 507 facilities.
Pate said 10 factories had been commissioned under the healthcare value chain pillar, while the 2024 Executive Order supported N24 billion in tax waivers for pharmaceutical manufacturers.
He said improvements were recorded in 12 of the 13 indicators reviewed, although stunting worsened slightly. The Mini Demographic and Health Survey showed that four antenatal visits rose from 52 to 59 per cent, skilled birth attendance from 46 to 50 per cent, and the use of oral rehydration solution from 47 to 57 per cent.
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, said significant progress had been recorded in the health sector, including a reduction in out-of-pocket spending to 50 per cent.
Salako described the Joint Annual Review as a mirror through which the government assessed the true state of the sector and presented its scorecard to Nigerians.
“Over the last three cycles, this Joint Annual Review has become the truth machine that keeps our health sector honest, unified, moving forward and seeing into the future. So, when Mr. President promised a 2031 target of at least 90 per cent functional PHCs, direct quarterly financing of at least 17,600 PHCs through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, 40 per cent of Nigerians enrolled in health insurance, 774 local governments of our country covered by the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation and Initiatives (MAMII), and out-of-pocket expenses for health of below 50 per cent,” he said.
Pate thanked health workers, governors, partners, and traditional and religious leaders, urging stakeholders to deepen implementation and sustain financing to end dependence on external assistance by 2030.
In its presentation, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) said states had cumulatively raised their combined health budgets from N1.97 trillion in 2023 to N3.3 trillion in 2026, in line with commitments under the Health Sector Compact.
The representative of the Forum, who disclosed this at the Joint Annual Review meeting, said health releases also rose to N681 billion in the first half of 2026, compared with N542 billion in the same period of 2025, an increase of about 26 per cent, despite competing demands on limited resources.
On health insurance, he said enrolment rose from 14 million in the first quarter of 2026 to 16.95 million in the third quarter, an increase of more than 2.8 million, with a target of 20 million by December 2026.
He said several states had recruited health workers, including Jigawa and Borno, with more than 2,000 each; Cross River, more than 2,200; Kebbi, 1,502; Kwara, more than 1,000; Anambra, more than 1,000; and Ondo, more than 930.
He thanked the federal government for training more than 78,000 frontline workers and for its response to Ebola, but warned that Lassa fever, cholera and malnutrition, with 40 per cent stunting among under-five children, still required stronger action.
He said states must ensure that increased allocations translated into timely releases, effective utilisation and better health outcomes for citizens.
The WHO Country Representative, Dr. Pavel Ursu, said Nigeria could help shape a global health architecture in which partnerships, financing and accountability responded to nationally determined priorities.
Onyebuchi Ezigbo
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