Get Guardian on GoogleThe Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2024 has supported ₦24 billion in tax waivers for pharmaceutical manufacturers between 2025 and 2026.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has announced a 60 per cent reduction in maternal case fatalities in areas covered by its Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative (MAMII), while reporting increased access to primary healthcare and health insurance coverage across the country.
Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate who disclosed this yesterday at the third Nigeria Health Sector Joint Annual Review (JAR) in Abuja , announced progress in local pharmaceutical manufacturing, disclosing that 10 factories or manufacturing lines had been commissioned, six of them in 2026, covering pharmaceuticals, rapid diagnostic tests, insecticide-treated nets and medical oxygen.
He said the government had secured 12 technology-transfer agreements and identified a prospective investment pipeline exceeding $5 billion in the healthcare value chain adding that the government is working assiduously to help those prospective investments become operating businesses that supply safe, effective and affordable products and create opportunities for Nigerians.
Pate stated that the government is working towards increasing domestic health financing, particularly as Nigeria prepares to gradually reduce its dependence on external assistance adding that the Government had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to strengthen the tracking of health sector funds and ensure accountability.
Pate further stated that under the health memorandum of understanding with the United States, Washington is expected to provide nearly $2 billion in grant funding between April 2026 and December 2030, while Nigeria planned to contribute nearly $3 billion in additional domestic health financing.
The minister observed that the government had revitalise 3,526 primary healthcare centres across the country, with work ongoing at another 900 facilities, as part of efforts to strengthen access to essential health services, particularly in underserved communities.
He disclosed that the number of Nigerians covered by health insurance had increased from approximately 16 million to nearly 24 million within three years, while more than 19,000 skilled birth attendants had been recruited across 22 states.
According to him, the government has also trained 78,054 frontline health workers and recruited 4,747 community health workers across 10 states to improve service delivery at the grassroots.
On maternal and newborn healthcare, the minister said facilities supported by the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) recorded 7.9 million skilled deliveries by the end of the second quarter of 2026, compared with 4.8 million in 2023.
He added that antenatal care visits increased from six million to 8.7 million, while outpatient attendance rose from 32.4 million to 43 million within the same period.
Pate attributed the improvement in maternal health outcomes to increased investment in frontline facilities, recruitment of skilled birth attendants, emergency referral services and the provision of free emergency obstetric care.
He said the MAMII programme had mapped and linked 750,000 pregnant women to functional health facilities, while emergency transportation services operating in 171 of the 172 participating local government areas had transported 104,566 women and newborns.
The minister further disclosed that the Federal Government’s free emergency obstetric care programme had delivered almost 100,000 services in two years, including 80,906 caesarean sections, approximately 9,100 newborn services and 6,059 vesicovaginal fistula repairs.
He said deaths from obstetric emergencies had declined by 22 per cent in participating facilities, while maternal case fatalities in MAMII-supported areas recorded an estimated 60 per cent reduction between 2024 and 2026.
However, Pate acknowledged that significant challenges remained in the health sector, particularly inadequate financing, unequal distribution of health workers, rising healthcare costs and the need to improve the quality of services.
He noted that some frontline health facilities still lacked adequate personnel, while medical professionals remained concentrated in major urban centres, including Lagos and Abuja.
The minister called on state governments to introduce incentives that would encourage health workers to accept postings and remain in rural and underserved communities.
On healthcare financing, he disclosed that cumulative releases under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund had reached approximately N422.3 billion as of October 2026, with N249.5 billion disbursed under the Tinubu administration.
He stressed that sustainable healthcare delivery would depend on the willingness of federal and state governments to mobilise and release adequate resources for the sector.
Pate argued that the government has achieved all 41 performance targets set for the health sector under President Bola Tinubu’s administration adding that at the beginning of this administration, Mr President set performance commitments for the health sector, stressing that they have achieved all 41 commitments.
The minister disclosed that cumulative releases under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund had reached N422.3bn as of October 2026, with N249.5bn disbursed under the current administration.
He identified poor coordination among different levels of government, fragmented donor support, inadequate critical commodities and the uneven distribution of health workers as some of the challenges confronting the sector before the reforms.
