Health
FG to invest $3bn into health sector by 2030
The federal government has announced plans to invest an additional $3 billion in Nigeria’s health sector by 2030 as part of efforts to reduce dependence on foreign assistance and strengthen domestic health financing.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, said this on Monday in Abuja at a media conference announcing the fifth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR, scheduled for 6 -8 December, 2026.
Mr Pate said the conference, the first to be hosted on African soil, would focus on translating global commitments into practical actions with the theme, “One Health: Advancing Global AMR Commitment through Local Action”.
He was responding to questions on the health Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Nigeria and the United States.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Nigeria and the United States signed a five-year bilateral health MoU on 19 December 2025, under the US America First Global Health Strategy.
Mr Pate said the planned investment was part of a transition arrangement under which both countries would work towards Nigeria fully financing its health sector by 2030.
“From now until 2030, the expectation is that the federal government will put in $3 billion into health, which is more than what the US government will contribute as it ramps down its contribution,” he said.
He said the arrangement reflected Nigeria’s position that long-term dependence on external assistance was not in the country’s national interest.
“Our position is that dependency in the long run is not in our national interest on external support,” he said.
“We articulated that we want Nigeria to exit from dependency from other entities over time.”
Health financing
Mr Pate acknowledged that achieving self-sustaining health financing would require increased domestic investment, noting that Nigeria was not yet in a position to fully fund its health sector.
He said 15 Nigerian government institutions, including the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Health and Social Welfare, participated in articulating Nigeria’s position during negotiations with the United States.
According to him, the US had supported health programmes in Nigeria for about 25 years, including interventions for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, benefiting millions of Nigerians.
However, following a shift in US government policy in 2025, Nigeria decided to assume greater responsibility for financing its health programmes.
“How do we own it responsibly? So, with the US government, we agreed that we will have a transition. By 2030, they exit and we exit. That means we fully fund our health sector,” he said.
Mr Pate said President Bola Tinubu had increased domestic health allocations, including providing six per cent of the government budget for health, as part of efforts to strengthen Nigeria’s contribution.
He emphasised that sustainable financing would require all three tiers of government to increase spending on citizens’ health.
Mr Pate said the transition was intended to strengthen Nigeria’s ownership of health programmes and reduce reliance on funding decisions made by other countries.
“We cannot rely on somebody else’s taxpayers funding for the health of Nigerians,” he said.
On concerns surrounding the MoU, Mr Pate described it as a non-binding framework for cooperation, anchored on Nigeria’s national policies and laws.
“The MoU that was signed with the US government is a non-binding MoU. It is anchored on Nigerian policy, national policies and laws, does not subvert our sovereignty or subvert US government sovereignty over their resources.
“It’s also one that either party can walk away at any time,” he said.
Mr Pate said the Attorney-General of the Federation had also confirmed that the agreement contained nothing that subverted Nigeria’s national interest.
He added that the MoU was publicly available and interested parties could request a copy from the ministry through the Freedom of Information process.
READ ALSO: Nigeria is building a sustainable health financing future, By Muhammad Ali Pate
The minister said the agreement aligned with the government’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, which prioritises improved governance, stronger primary healthcare, expanded health insurance coverage, domestic production and increased health security.
He said the cooperation would support public health and laboratory capacity, including the detection of antimicrobial resistance, while promoting local capacity to produce essential health commodities.
Mr Pate said strengthening domestic production and ensuring local markets could supply essential medicines, including antimicrobials, were important steps towards reducing external dependence.
He said the transition would require sustained efforts and domestic investment to ensure Nigeria could finance its health priorities as external contributions declined.
Mr Pate urged Nigerians to examine the agreement and its provisions, saying the government’s objective was to strengthen national ownership of health financing and service delivery.
(NAN)
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State government-owned hospitals in Kwara State are introducing electronic medical records (EMR) to strengthen health information management and modernise public healthcare delivery in the state.
The Executive Secretary of the KW-HMB, Abdulraheem Malik, disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES in Ilorin, the state capital.
He said the initiative, being implemented through KW-HMB under the HOPE-PHC Project, will see healthcare workers begin training on the system in November.
The digital healthcare programme is expected to reduce reliance on paper-based medical records, improve access to patients’ medical histories and promote continuity of care across public hospitals in the state.
The system is also designed to strengthen administrative efficiency and support evidence-based decision-making in hospital management.
The rollout builds on an earlier hospital digitalisation pilot involving six hospitals and the state government’s ongoing efforts to integrate digital solutions into healthcare service delivery.
The initiative also complements the board’s efforts to strengthen health information management, including the inauguration of its Data Management Committee in August 2026.
The KW-HMB boss, Mr Malik, commended Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for approving the initiative, describing it as an important milestone in the state’s drive towards a more efficient, accountable and technology-driven public healthcare system.
READ ALSO: 30 children rescued from illegal orphanage in Kwara
Mr Malik said the adoption of electronic medical records would strengthen hospital operations, improve patient information management and support more efficient clinical encounters across the state.
He reaffirmed the board’s commitment to working with relevant stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the programme and deliver more responsive, efficient and patient-centred healthcare services to residents.
The staff training scheduled for November is expected to equip healthcare personnel with the skills required to operate the system effectively.
When fully implemented, the initiative is expected to improve the management of patients’ health information and support better coordination of care across Kwara State’s public hospitals.
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Twenty-five art students of the Yaba College of Technology (Yabatech), Lagos State, have explored mental health and emotional well-being through art in a workshop aimed at encouraging conversations around mental health.
The two-day Health Story Lab, organised by the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art (YSMA), Pan-Atlantic University, in collaboration with the Art for Health Initiative (AHI), was held on 2 and 3 October in Lagos.
The programme, titled “What We Carry: Stories of Mental Health and Resilience”, brought together art, public health, mental health and storytelling to help the students explore how creative expression can be used to communicate experiences that may be difficult to discuss openly.
The workshop was held ahead of World Mental Health Day (WMHD), marked annually on 10 October.
Using art to discuss mental health
The students participated in sessions on public health and art, mental health and resilience, creative expression and art for social change.
According to the organisers, the discussions gave the students an opportunity to reflect on issues such as stress, uncertainty, social pressure, family expectations, grief, fear and hope.
The students subsequently developed creative concepts and received feedback from facilitators and their peers.
The students also examined the role of art in health communication during a session led by Olayinka Badmus, a public health strategist. The session explored how creative expression can communicate public health issues and make health conversations more accessible.
Another session, led by psychiatrist and psychotherapist Emmanuel Abayomi, focused on mental health and resilience, while Art Project Lead Temitope Oladeji guided students to express their experiences and emotions through art. The programme also included a museum tour focused on art for social change, led by a museum educator, Charles Udeh.
Solomon Nkwagu, Head of Corporate Communication and Visitors’ Services at YSMA, said the programme showed the potential of art to encourage conversations around public and mental health.
“They began to see the possibility of using their creative voices to start conversations around public and mental health, to tell stories that people can recognise themselves in, and perhaps even to create moments of reflection and healing for others. That shift in perspective was one of the most rewarding parts of the programme,” Mr Nkwagu said.
In her remarks, Chidera Aneke, Founder of AHI, said the initiative was designed to make health communication more participatory, culturally relevant and emotionally engaging.
Ms Aneke said health information could be communicated not only through statistics and clinical information but also through stories, images, symbols, emotions and lived experiences.
“We wanted to create a space where young artists could understand that health is not only communicated through statistics, campaigns or clinical information. It can also be communicated through stories, images, symbols, emotions and lived experiences,” she said.
“Working with the students showed us the possibilities that emerge when artists are given the knowledge, language and space to think about health through their own creative practice.”
Mental health burden
Mental health remains a significant public health concern in Nigeria.
A 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of 53 studies involving more than 132,000 people estimated that 7.9 per cent of the general population had experienced suicidal thoughts, while 1.9 per cent had made suicidal plans and 1.3 per cent had attempted suicide.
The researchers said suicidal behaviour was more common among some groups, including adolescents, young people, and pregnant women.
This year’s World Mental Health Day theme is “Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) is calling for people who have experienced mental health conditions to have a meaningful role in shaping policies, services and decisions that affect them.
“World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to meaningfully engage with people with lived experience (PWLE) of mental health conditions and to recognise their knowledge as a vital form of expertise,” it noted.
READ ALSO: PT Health Watch: Why some pregnant women develop gestational diabetes
“This year’s campaign calls for their voices to shape the policies, services and decisions that affect their lives.”
From workshop to exhibition
The Yabatech students will develop artworks based on the issues explored during the workshop.
The works are expected to form a micro-exhibition in Lagos in November, giving members of the public an opportunity to engage with mental health and resilience through the perspectives of young artists.
The organisers said the initiative is intended to demonstrate how partnerships between the creative sector, museums and public health practitioners can create new ways of discussing mental health.
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