Nigeria’s 2026 Health Sector Joint Annual Review closed on Thursday with 12 Joint Annual Review resolutions on health financing, workforce, primary health care, data, local manufacturing, regulation and emergency care, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported on 12 November.
Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom, read the communiqué at the closing ceremony in Abuja. It was signed by Kachollom, Dr Pavel Ursu for health development partners, Dr Oyebanji Filani as Chairman of the Commissioners for Health, and Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Muhammad Pate.
The review, held from Tuesday to Thursday under the theme “Together to Higher Ground: Make Reform Data Count,” brought together federal and state officials, development partners, civil society and the private sector to assess the third year of the Health Sector Strategic Blueprint.
Key Joint Annual Review resolutions
On financing, stakeholders resolved to improve compliance with Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) transfer timelines, expand digital expenditure tracking and link spending to service outcomes. They also called for higher budget allocations, timely release and use of appropriated funds, larger BHCPF contributions and pro-health taxation policies.
On the health workforce, they resolved to operationalise the National Human Resources for Health Programme with a dedicated management structure, work plans and state retention strategies, and to offer targeted incentives for deployment and retention in rural and underserved areas.
For primary health care, the communiqué called for faster certification of PHC facilities, starting with those ready to provide Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care, using criteria that cover staffing, medicines, equipment, water, electricity, security and functionality. BHCPF-supported interventions are to be expanded in high-burden LGAs identified through the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative.
The Joint Annual Review resolutions on primary care reflect findings from recent reporting, including a Premium Times investigation into Kogi State’s PHC upgrades, which found renovated clinics locked, unstaffed or without water and power. Certification based on staffing, water and electricity is intended to ensure that upgraded facilities can actually provide care.
Data, manufacturing and regulation
The review resolved to make District Health Information Software 2 (DHIS2) the single national platform for health data aggregation and reporting, and to improve data quality, timeliness and interoperability.
Stakeholders also resolved to strengthen local production of health commodities through shared industrial infrastructure, investment readiness and inter-ministerial coordination. They committed to supporting NAFDAC to reach WHO Maturity Level Four by 2027 and to strengthening oversight of medicine distribution, including coordinated drug distribution centres.
WHO’s maturity levels rate national regulatory systems from one to four. Level four indicates an advanced, well-functioning system. NAFDAC reached Maturity Level Three in 2024.
Reaching Level Four would place NAFDAC among a small group of regulators globally and could support Nigeria’s ambitions to export locally made medicines and vaccines, since higher maturity levels can speed approval of products in other markets.
Emergency care
On emergency care, the review called for a unified reimbursement mechanism, expanded emergency transport and faster passage of the National Emergency Medical Treatment System Bill. The resolution comes as the Senate and House of Representatives consider bills to penalise hospitals that delay emergency treatment, and as doctors argue that emergencies need funding as well as penalties.
Progress and gaps
The communiqué acknowledged gains in PHC functionality, reduced facility-based maternal mortality, improved maternal and child health indicators, family planning and emergency transport, and noted that local production of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets has begun.
It identified areas needing faster action: workforce distribution and retention, noncommunicable diseases, quality of care, health facility regulation, domestic resource mobilisation and public financial management. “Sustained effort, stronger accountability, increased domestic financing, and data-driven decision-making will be critical,” the communiqué said.
The Joint Annual Review resolutions will guide planning for 2027, the final year of the 2023 to 2027 Health Sector Strategic Blueprint. Participants committed to implementing them, particularly for women, children and vulnerable groups.
For pharmacists and the medicine supply chain, the commitments on coordinated drug distribution centres and NAFDAC’s regulatory maturity are especially significant, as they could reshape how medicines move from manufacturers and importers to patients.
Coordinated wholesale centres have been planned for years as a replacement for open drug markets, where falsified and substandard medicines often circulate. Their full implementation would require state cooperation, enforcement against illegal markets and incentives for legitimate wholesalers to relocate.
Health workers’ groups will also watch how the workforce resolutions are implemented, since pay, postings and working conditions are at the centre of recent disputes, including the resident doctors’ threat of strike over proposed emergency care penalties.
The Joint Annual Review resolutions will be reviewed at the next annual review, when stakeholders are expected to report on progress against each commitment.
Why it matters: The resolutions set Nigeria’s health priorities for 2027, from paying for emergencies to cleaning up medicine distribution.
Mental Health Challenges in Nigeria: Funding,… The World Health Organization (WHO) has consistently emphasized the critical importance of mental health, making it a global concern for the past three years through their World Mental Health Day themes. In 2021, the WHO…
$300M World Bank loan to upgrade health security Abuja, Nigeria – In a significant move to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system, the World Bank has approved a $300 million loan to boost health security and resilience across the country. The funding comes at a…
Nigerians Still Pay 62% of Health Costs Out of… ABUJA, NIGERIA Nigeria out-of-pocket health spending fell from 71.7 per cent of total health expenditure in 2022 to 62.2 per cent in 2024, but households still pay most of the country’s health bill directly, officials…
Nigeria Targets 90% Functional Health Centres and… ABUJA, NIGERIA — Nigeria aims to make at least 90 per cent of its primary health care centres (PHCs) functional and cover 40 per cent of Nigerians with health insurance by 2031, Minister of State…
