By Omoyeni Ojeifo
The Federal Government on Tuesday reviewed progress under President Bola Tinubu’s health sector reforms, reporting N249 billion disbursed to states for basic healthcare, alongside improvements in maternal health, insurance coverage and local pharmaceutical production.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this at the 2026 Nigeria Health Sector-Wide Joint Annual Review at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.
PerSecondNews correspondent, who attended the review, reports that the three-day meeting, holding from November 10 to 12, themed, “Together to Higher Grounds: Make Reform Data Count”, examines the implementation of the government’s health sector reforms, assessed progress across key indicators and identified areas requiring further action.
The annual review brings together federal, state and local governments, development partners and other health sector actors to assess performance, identify implementation gaps and agree on priorities for improving healthcare delivery.
Presenting the government’s three-year scorecard, Pate stated that the reforms were beginning to translate into improvements in healthcare financing, maternal health, primary healthcare delivery, health insurance and local pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“The bigger macro fiscal reforms are well known, and we are beginning to see the results of those reforms. But they are also translating into lives of our people,” he said.
FG Disburses N249bn For Basic Healthcare
Pate disclosed that N249bn was disbursed to states through the four gateways of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) between 2023 and the third quarter of 2026.
He contrasted this with N74bn cumulatively released to primary healthcare centres through the fund’s direct facility financing arrangement over the preceding decade.
“That shows a huge difference in terms of resourcing of the primary healthcare system,” he said.
FG Revitalises 3,500 Primary Healthcare Centres
The minister disclosed that 3,500 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) had been revitalised, with another 900 undergoing the process.
Almost 20,000 skilled birth attendants had been recruited across 22 states, while 4,747 community health workers were engaged in 10 states.
He added that 91 per cent of BHCPF-supported facilities in areas covered by the intervention now had at least two midwives or community health extension workers, compared with 12 per cent before the reforms.
Skilled deliveries increased from 4.8 million to 7.9 million, while women completing four antenatal care visits rose from six million to 8.7 million.
Outpatient visits also increased from 32.4 million to 43 million, while children receiving the third dose of the pentavalent vaccine rose from 1.2 million to 2.4 million.
More than 100 million children had received measles and rubella vaccines, while over 80 million girls had received human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines to prevent cervical cancer.
Health Insurance Coverage Rises To 24 Million
Pate stated that health insurance coverage increased from 16 million to almost 24 million people within three years.
He also reported that nearly 100,000 free emergency services had been delivered to women, including 80,900 caesarean sections and 9,100 newborn services.
The emergency transportation initiative had moved 168,000 patients, including 62,000 women and newborns, across 171 of the 172 participating local government areas.
“That’s amazing, tangible achievement in terms of delivery on financial protection,” Pate said.
More than 5,000 dialysis patients had benefited from an almost 80 per cent reduction in treatment costs, while over 700 cancer patients received subsidised drugs.
Facility-Based Case Fatality Drops 60%
Earlier, the National Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Coordination Office, Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, reported a 60 per cent reduction in facility-based case fatality during the review.
“The maternal deaths in many facilities have dropped quite significantly. We’ve had a reduction in case fatality, facility-based, by 60 per cent,” he said.
Umar-Sadiq explained that the independent People’s Voices survey assessed Nigerians’ experiences and confidence in healthcare delivery rather than relying on opinions from politicians or commentators.
Supporting the review, the minister revealed that public confidence in the health system had increased from below 50 per cent to almost 60 per cent, while quality ratings remained above 70 per cent.
Pate said 12 of 13 health indicators had improved, although childhood stunting recorded a slight deterioration.
He said oral rehydration solution (ORS) usage had increased by almost 60 per cent, while care-seeking for fever remained above 60 per cent.
FG Expands Pharmaceutical And Specialist Healthcare
According to the minister, three of six planned cancer centres had been commissioned, while 10 diagnostic centres under the MedServe initiative had been completed and were operational.
He added that more than 502 infrastructure and equipment projects had been completed across 60 federal tertiary hospitals.
On pharmaceutical manufacturing, the minister reported that 10 factories or production lines had been commissioned, while manufacturers received N24bn in tax waivers between 2025 and 2026.
He further disclosed that 12 technology transfer agreements had been secured, with prospective investments exceeding $5bn.
Pate also credited the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and its partners with largely containing the recent Ebola outbreak.
“One case that we had exemplifies that because it is one case that could have really cascaded into several more cases,” he said.
He identified Lassa fever, cholera and meningitis as continuing public health challenges requiring sustained intervention.
On his part, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Adekunle Salako, stated that the share of locally manufactured medicines in Nigeria increased from 30 per cent to 50 per cent between 2023 and 2026.
He attributed the progress to growing domestic pharmaceutical capacity, adding that the number of active local pharmaceutical companies increased by approximately 10 per cent.
Salako also disclosed that almost eight million Nigerians had been added to health insurance coverage, including more than three million vulnerable persons.
According to him, over 8,000 primary healthcare centres had received direct support, while utilisation of the facilities had more than doubled.
The minister identified 2027 as the final year of the National Health Sector Strategic Blueprint and urged participants to produce measurable commitments.
“The job is therefore not a mere ceremony, but a working platform to measure performance against impact, spotlight what works so that others can adopt it, and end with clear resolutions,” Salako stated.
He called for specific resolutions assigning responsibility to ministries, departments, agencies and development partners within defined timelines.
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