During a recent visit to Nigeria, the World Health Organization’s Acting Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, urged the country to reshape its healthcare financing approach by firmly grounding decisions in research and evidence. Dr. Ihekweazu emphasised that amid dwindling donor support, African nations—including Nigeria—must now assume greater responsibility for their health systems and allocate resources strategically rather than relying on external aid. He highlighted Nigeria’s pivotal role as WHO’s largest country programme in Africa, noting that the nation has both the opportunity and duty to lead health financing transformation across the continent.
He further stressed that integrating health expenditure data and rigorous economic analysis into policymaking could significantly boost the equity and efficiency of healthcare spending. Dr. Ihekweazu also reaffirmed WHO’s commitment to supporting Nigeria in adopting evidence-based funding models and strengthening health system resilience in the face of complex global challenges.
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WHO Calls on Nigeria to Embrace Research-Driven Health Financing for Sustainable Systems
Our health system is not functioning and the government is doing absolutely nothing about it.