Experts call for wider adoption of proven health innovations in Nigeria

Health experts have called for effective health innovations to be scaled up and integrated into existing health systems to improve healthcare delivery and expand access to essential services in Nigeria.

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They made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the 11th edition of the Future of Health Conference, organised by Nigeria Health Watch, where speakers highlighted the importance of evidence, political leadership, community participation and sustainable financing in translating innovations into measurable health outcomes.

The conference, themed “From Innovation to Impact: The Future of Health is Now”, brought together policymakers, health professionals, researchers, innovators and development partners to examine how research, technology, investment and policy can address persistent challenges in the country’s health system.

In her remarks, the Managing Director of Nigeria Health Watch, Vivianne Ihekweazu, said the focus must shift from developing promising solutions to ensuring they reach more people and produce lasting improvements in healthcare.

Mrs Ihekweazu said the conference, established in 2015, had provided a platform for discussions on universal health coverage, health financing, private-sector participation, technology and health workforce challenges.

She said the current edition was an opportunity to examine the barriers preventing effective innovations from being adopted at scale and how partnerships could help overcome them.

According to her, innovations must move beyond discussions and isolated interventions to deliver practical benefits to the population.

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Innovation must solve real problems

In his keynote address, the Director-General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Kelechi Ohiri, said health innovations must address practical problems, generate evidence, remain financially sustainable and become integrated into existing systems to achieve impact at scale.

Mr Ohiri said the authority’s reforms were aimed at building a health financing system that protects Nigerians from financial hardship while improving access to healthcare.

“The future of health is not a distant vision. Through strategic purchasing, rigorous evidence, and commitment to equity, the future of health is happening right now,” he said.

‘Science alone is not enough’

Also speaking, Erasmus Morah, a senior adviser at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said scientific breakthroughs alone would not transform healthcare without political commitment, effective leadership and the involvement of affected communities.

Drawing on his experience in Nigeria and other African countries, Mr Morah said the successful implementation of health interventions depended on the ability to translate evidence into policies and practices that respond to people’s needs.

He illustrated this with Nigeria’s progress in HIV treatment coverage, recalling that coverage was about 33 per cent in 2017 before a national survey helped revise estimates of the number of people living with HIV.

According to him, the Nigerian AIDS Indicator Survey showed that the estimated population of people living with HIV was about 1.8 million, rather than the previously projected 3.2 million.

He said the revised estimates helped reveal gaps in the country’s response and contributed to a change in reported treatment coverage.

Mr Morah argued that reliable data could improve decision-making, but that achieving results also required people willing to challenge established assumptions and ensure that evidence informed policy.

He also recounted his experience in Malawi, where efforts to expand HIV testing required a shift from voluntary testing and counselling to provider-initiated testing and counselling.

The experience, he said, demonstrated the importance of changing policies and delivery approaches when existing methods were failing to reach enough people.

“Science without politics, it’s powerless. Politics without science, dangerous,” he said, urging governments, researchers and communities to work together to implement effective health interventions.

He called for major health innovations to be supported by locally accountable implementation coalitions led by committed champions and shaped by the communities they serve.

Malaria research highlights value of local data

Meanwhile, Ifeyinwa Rhodes-Vivour, founder of AfroScientric, highlighted the potential of malaria genomics to help Nigeria develop more targeted interventions against the disease.

She said conventional epidemiological approaches alone might not provide sufficient information about the genetic characteristics of malaria parasites, particularly as drug resistance threatens the effectiveness of existing treatments.

According to her, genomic sequencing can help researchers identify resistance patterns, track parasites and provide policymakers with evidence to guide interventions suited to different locations.

Mrs Rhodes-Vivour said research conducted by her team had identified differences in drug-resistance profiles between malaria parasites in northern and southern Nigeria, underscoring the limitations of applying a uniform approach across the country.

She said the work included a pilot study in Lagos State in 2017 and subsequent national surveys, including a second survey in 2025.

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According to her, the team has collected about 32,000 parasite samples through its research, providing data to support the development of targeted malaria interventions.

She also highlighted efforts to reduce the cost of genomic sequencing and make the resulting information more accessible to policymakers through digital tools.

Mrs Rhodes-Vivour said the cost of sequencing had been reduced from about $150 per sample to approximately $20–$24 through laboratory innovations.

She said the team had also developed a dashboard and an artificial intelligence-powered WhatsApp interface to help policymakers access information about malaria drug resistance and make more informed decisions.

The work, she added, demonstrated how research and technology could be adapted to local conditions and made more useful to decision-makers.