By Abdullahi Maku
Health stakeholders have called for increased domestic financing and policy reforms to expand effective health and nutrition interventions in Nigeria.
They made the call at the Gatefield Health Summit 2026, themed “Scaling What Works,” on Wednesday in Abuja.
The call came amid concerns over chronic illnesses, rising healthcare costs and barriers to accessing public services.
Presenting findings from Gatefield’s Longevity Factors Report, the Lead Strategist, Adewunmi Emoruwa, said Nigeria needs to move beyond developing new health innovations to ensuring that existing effective solutions reached more people.
The pilot survey, which covered 1,070 adults in Lagos, Kano and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), found that 49 per cent of households surveyed managed long-term health conditions, while one in eight young adults aged 18 to 35 lived with a chronic illness.
According to the report, 52 per cent of respondents had experienced financial strain or gone without treatment because of healthcare costs.
It said 27 per cent borrowed money to pay for care, while 25 per cent relied on family support.
Another 14 per cent reduced spending on food and other necessities, while 13 per cent sold personal assets to meet medical expenses.
The report also highlighted difficulties in accessing public health services, finding that 33 per cent of respondents had missed a service they needed in the previous year, including vaccination, screening or essential medication.
It added that 75 per cent of respondents had experienced or witnessed corruption while accessing public services during the same period.
Emoruwa said healthcare barriers were not limited to medical facilities and treatment, but also involve systemic challenges that prevented people from receiving essential services.
He called for governments to prioritise interventions that had demonstrated effectiveness and address the conditions contributing to premature deaths.
Speaking on healthcare policy, Dr Salma Anas, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Health, said sustainable domestic financing and legislative backing were essential to strengthening the health system.
Anas said effective interventions should be expanded to reach the people who needed them, adding that the government remained committed to scaling existing solutions and working with development partners.
She said collaboration among government, health professionals and other stakeholders was necessary to improve healthcare delivery.
Siddhartha Prakash, Global Health Lead at the World Intellectual Property Organisation, called for the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies that reflect the health needs and realities of African populations.
He said many existing AI systems relied on foreign training models that might not adequately address local health challenges.
Kofoworola Odozi, Editor at wearegst, called on the media to hold companies accountable for practices that could threaten public health.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Gatefield Health Summit is an annual gathering of policymakers, health experts, innovators and civil society organisations to discuss strategies for strengthening healthcare systems across Africa.
The summit also examined the role of food systems in disease prevention, with stakeholders urging policymakers to integrate nutrition and primary healthcare into public health planning.(NAN)
Edited by Folasade Akpan
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