Report acknowledges progress in Nigeria’s maternal, child health, workforce development

A new report has revealed notable progress in health insurance coverage, maternal and child health, and workforce development in Nigeria.

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The report, “The 2024 State of Health of the Nation Report” provided a detailed analysis of Nigeria’s healthcare sector.

It also highlighted persistent challenges such as low facility-based deliveries, high neonatal mortality, gaps in immunisation coverage, and an uneven distribution of healthcare workers.

The State of Health of the Nation report was based on data collected under the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal and Investment Initiative (NHSRII), and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
The report is aimed at informing policy makers on the need to improve health outcomes across the country.

It highlighted an increase in health insurance coverage, reflecting the government’s commitment to achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

It stated that as of December 2024, an estimated 19.1 million Nigerians were covered by health insurance, compared to 16.8 million in 2023.

Despite this progress, the report said that the majority of Nigerians still lack financial protection, making out-of-pocket healthcare costs a significant burden on households.

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The report also shows that the use of modern contraceptives among married women aged 15-49 increased from 12 per cent in 2018 to 15 per cent in 2023/2024.

However, the unmet need for family planning remains high at 21 per cent, meaning many women who want to prevent or delay pregnancy still lack access to contraceptive methods.

“This could be due to the low availability of family planning commodities in health facilities.

“Only 18.5 per cent of facilities had contraceptive pills available, injectables were stocked in just 19.5 per cent of facilities and implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs) were found in only 17.8 per cent of facilities,” it said.

The report said that only 43 per cent of women delivered in a health facility, suggesting that many births still occur at home or in informal settings, thus increasing the risk of complications.

It also observed a decline in under-five mortality, while stating that neonatal deaths remain high
“The under-five mortality rate has dropped from 132 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2018 to 110 per 1,000 in 2023, marking a significant improvement,” it said.

“However, neonatal deaths (deaths within the first 28 days of life) remain high, accounting for 37 per cent of all under-five deaths, with a rate of 41 per 1,000 live births.

“Only 39 per cent of children aged 12-23 months received all the recommended vaccines. Alarmingly, 31 per cent of children in this age group did not receive any vaccination.”

The report stated that malnutrition remains a serious public health challenge in Nigeria.

It said that while 49 per cent of health facilities provided nutrition-related services, there is a caregiver knowledge gap on appropriate feeding practices, which needs urgent intervention.

It said that hypertension and diabetes care remained limited; 31 per cent of Nigerians suffer from hypertension, making it a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

“11 per cent of non-communicable disease-related deaths were due to hypertension complications. Only 12 per cent of health facilities offer hypertension management, and 14 per cent provide diabetes care services.”
“The limited availability of NCD services in health facilities highlights an urgent need for expanded screening, treatment, and awareness programmes,” it said.

The report said that the doctor-to-population ratio in Nigeria remained critically low at 2.9 doctors per 10,000 people, far below the WHO recommendation of 17 per 10,000.

It said that 80 per cent of doctors are concentrated in urban areas, leaving rural communities underserved.
The report emphasised several policy actions needed to strengthen Nigeria’s health system.

It called for the allocation of more resources to healthcare at federal, state, and local government levels, and expansion of health insurance coverage to reduce out-of-pocket spending.

It also called for improvement in access to care, and an increase in Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) allocations to reach more Nigerians.

It recommended the need to strengthen family planning and maternal health services to ensure consistent availability of family planning commodities in all healthcare facilities.

The report explained the importance of improving immunisation and child health interventions to strengthen routine immunisation programmes to reduce vaccine-preventable diseases and enhance nutrition education and intervention programmes to combat child malnutrition.

Speaking on addressing NCDs, it said that there was a need to scale up hypertension and diabetes screening and treatment services in primary healthcare centres.

The report recommended implementing incentives to encourage health workers to serve in rural areas and expanding training programmes for healthcare providers, focusing on maternal health, childhood illnesses, and emergency care.

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The State of Health of the Nation report highlighted the need to strengthen local manufacturing of medicines and vaccines to sustain the current push for local vaccine production through policy incentives and increased private sector investment.

It also recommended the need to strengthen disease surveillance and response to improve Nigeria’s health security infrastructure by investing in pandemic preparedness, early warning systems, and emergency response mechanisms.
(NAN)