The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, announced on Thursday that the ministry is preparing to unveil the country’s inaugural state of health report.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, Pate emphasized that the report will deliver a thorough analysis of Nigeria’s healthcare system and provide strategic recommendations for its future development.
Pate revealed that the upcoming Nigeria Health Sector-Wide Joint Annual Review, scheduled for November, will serve as a foundational event for this significant report.
“The Joint Annual Review is one landmark conference of its kind, where we are collectively coming together to review the results, and we have been able to demonstrate a much larger journey that is ahead of us, of transforming Nigeria’s healthcare system,” he said.
He noted that extensive consultations with state governments, health commissioners, and development partners have occurred through various working groups, employing tools such as the People’s Perceptions Survey to gather data.
Reflecting on previous initiatives, Pate stated, “Last year, when we set the agenda, we had a People’s Voices Survey that was conducted, interviewing almost 2,500 Nigerians, to get their perception because, if you recall, the first pillar of the agenda is to improve governance and to respond to the needs of Nigerians, which is the President’s Health Sector Renewal Initiative.
This year, we have a Perception Survey, which is conducted across 36 states, interviewing more than 2,600 Nigerians as a sample to get a sense of their perception, on our way to continually assess how Nigerians feel about their health system and the impact of what we are trying to do, and that will be reviewed next week at the JAR.”
The minister highlighted the importance of data in assessing healthcare progress: “We have now gotten the result of 23 Demographic and Health Surveys, which is like a baseline, which has now been organized systematically across different states, by different indicators, to tell what has been the trend, so that in two years’ time, we can reliably say how much we have achieved, and what we have not achieved and to track our progress.”
Pate also indicated that the report will focus on critical issues such as maternal and child healthcare and reproductive health. “There are particular local governments, about 172 of them, which account for more than half of maternal mortality.
So, how do we target them now that we have identified them? We will review it collectively, using the best interventions that we can deploy,” he explained. He stressed the need for a robust operational plan developed in collaboration with state governments.
“Our teams are working very hard. Our development partners, our partners at the state government, local governments, of course, the citizen voices are included. There will be the first state of health report, which will be the first time there will be a state of health report.
On an annual basis, there will now be a report back to Nigerians because all of this is to serve Nigerians,” he continued. Pate emphasized the report’s significance for accountability, stating it would be shared with President Bola Tinubu, members of the National Assembly, and the National Council on Health.
In addition, Pate announced that President Tinubu approved the release of N10 billion for the Medical Relief Programme, aimed at providing essential drugs to those affected by floods. “The sum of N5 billion was released to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency respectively,” he said.
Dr. Muntaqa Sadiq, the National Coordinator of the Sector-Wide approach, noted that this year’s Joint Annual Review will establish a baseline for future targets and priorities, ensuring efficient deployment of government resources for maximum impact.
He emphasized that these engagements are designed to strengthen collaboration among state and federal entities, reinforcing adherence to the compact signed by the Nigeria Health Sector Investment Renewal Initiative of Government.
