The Federal Government has expressed its commitment to strengthening health financing by boosting domestic resources and reducing dependence on external aid to ensure that every Nigerian has access to quality healthcare without financial hardship.
 
Also, the government has stated its commitment to enrolling about 44 million Nigerians into the National Health Insurance by 2030 to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on health, which currently remains at about 70 per cent.
 
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Adekunle Salako, who stated this yesterday at the National Health Financing Policy Dialogue with the theme, “Reimagining a New Era of Health Financing,” organised by the National Health Insurance Agency (NHIA) in Abuja, noted that it had become compelling for Nigeria to look more inwards in financing her health agenda, adding that the dialogue was a reflection of Nigeria’s aspirations for enhanced domestic and sustainable financing for health in the quest for universal health coverage.
 
Salako noted that President Tinubu had continued to emphasise that a strong health system was vital for national growth and had, therefore, directed the implementation of several interconnected policies to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and protect vulnerable Nigerians. 
 
Salako highlighted the government’s efforts towards ensuring the Universal Health Coverage to include the upward trend of budgetary allocation for the health sector, the provision of emergency funding to protect against the shock of dwindling ODA, the consistent funding of BHCP and approval of special initiatives such as HOPE Health.
 
Declaring the event open, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, observed that for decades, Nigeria had underinvested in health, as had been reflected in the outcomes.
 
He noted that earlier this year, a major shock reminded the country of a hard truth that we could not build a healthy nation on the back of other people’s taxpayers but should rather increasingly invest Nigeria’s resources.

Pate also observed that for more than two decades, Nigeria’s health financing had relied heavily on out-of-pocket spending by families, households, and communities, but that in the last two years, the Federal Government had increased its contribution, and stressed the need for state governments to match those efforts.
 
In his remarks, the Director-General of the NHIA, Dr Kelechi Ohiri, said that globally, the financing landscape for health was shifting, adding that the event was aimed at shaping the future of domestic health financing in Nigeria. 
 
Ohiri stated that high out-of-pocket expenditure, limited financial protection, and the challenges of a decentralised system that required better coordination and resource mobilisation, not just at the federal but also at state and local government levels.