Stakeholders have called for increased and sustained financing to tackle hypertension and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across Africa.

They spoke during a technical session at the Africa Primary Health Care Conference (APHCF) 2026, themed “From Burden to Budget: Financing Hypertension and Other Non-Communicable Diseases Through Primary Health Care in Africa.”

According to them, inadequate funding continues to undermine access to essential primary healthcare services. The session was hosted by the Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), in collaboration with the Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development (LISDEL) and the Gammun Centre for Care and Development.

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Healthcare Services, Amos Magaji, said the National Assembly was working on proposed legislation to strengthen health financing, including bills to expand the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and reform Nigeria’s sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax.

He said consultations were ongoing with stakeholders in the health insurance sector to develop an equitable funding-sharing formula among the various BHCPF gateways.

Magaji urged stakeholders to sustain advocacy for the reforms, stressing that continued pressure was needed to move health financing legislation through the National Assembly and translate policy commitments into actual funding.

A representative of LISDEL, Damilola Ademuyiwa, called for a shift from disease-specific financing towards broader investments that strengthen health systems and primary healthcare.

He identified expansion of the BHCPF and the use of ring-fenced revenue from the SSB tax as key avenues for mobilising additional resources for healthcare.

Hussaini Lamadi of the National Association of People Living with Hypertension identified low public awareness, inadequate screening infrastructure, medicine shortages and high drug costs in private pharmacies as major barriers to hypertension care.

The Executive Director of the Gammun Centre for Care and Development, Tulari Tine, highlighted the organisation’s efforts to strengthen community accountability and advocacy for hypertension services in Kano.

He said the centre’s Hypertension Ambassadors initiative was designed to strengthen community engagement and equip advocates with the knowledge and skills to demand improved prevention, screening and treatment services.

Participants said hypertension and other NCDs require greater attention in Africa’s primary healthcare financing agenda, noting that unlike many infectious diseases, NCDs require sustained access to screening, diagnosis, medicines and long-term care. They therefore called for predictable and sustained financing rather than short-term or disease-specific interventions.

The session ended with commitments to translate advocacy into concrete policy and financing action.

Civil society organisations pledged to participate in public hearings on health financing bills and provide lawmakers with evidence and data to support legislative decisions.

Participants also encouraged health experts and public figures to use primary healthcare centres, arguing that greater engagement with frontline facilities could help expose service gaps and drive improvements.

They further committed to sustained engagement with the National Assembly to accelerate passage of key health financing legislation.

The stakeholders said stronger political commitment, community accountability and sustainable domestic financing would be critical to improving prevention and treatment of hypertension and other NCDs and reducing their growing burden on individuals, families and health systems.