Abuja, 04 August 2017-With the Primary Health Care (PHC) revitalization programme of the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) Nigeria has the potential to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). Even though progress has been slow, it is believed that the country has an effective strategy to achieve UHC and hence, key health related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Tracing the roots of government’s present commitment, Dr Akin Ola Oyemakinde, the Director, Health Planning Research and Statistics in the FMOH, noted, “In 2014, during the Presidential Summit on UHC, Nigeria made a bold statement and committed to accelerating UHC, further signifying an unrelenting political will to keep Nigeria on track towards the goal. He added, “About the same time in 2014, the National Health Act, a singular legal framework for galvanizing efforts on Health matters was enacted following Presidential assent”.

 In 2005, the World Health Assembly Resolution 58:33, urged countries to develop strategies that will ensure all people have access to needed healthcare services without the risk of financial ruin at the point of accessing care or after accessing care. As United Nations member state, Nigeria is signatory to the post 2015 SDGs and UHC agenda.

Presenting preliminary findings by a team of experts who are in the country to review areas for health systems enhancements,  the Director of Human Resource for Health (HSS) at the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Regional Office (AFRO), Dr Delano Dovlo noted that finding local “solutions”, resisting global impositions and leveraging domestic resources for sustainability are veritable keys to achieving UHC.

Meanwhile, the 5-day mission to Nigeria (31 July- 4 August 2017) is expected to review the extent which structural and institutional issues are affecting realization of the goal  and explore opportunities for scaling up health system improvement to enable Nigeria expedite progress towards the attainment of UHC and the SDGs. The attainment of UHC is the ultimate goal of SDGs Goal 3, which is attainment of healthy lives and well-being for all, at all ages.

The initial  findings by the mission indicate that  structural coordination mechanisms for reducing fragmentation, functionality of National Council on Health and varying degrees of  partner confidence on the health systems are some of the challenges affecting Nigeria’s drive towards UHC.

With the world shifting from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to SDGs, governments are afforded tremendous opportunities to better engineer the development of their countries. Therefore, the team is expected to hold a debriefing meeting with  the Honorable Minister of Health at the end of the mission  to  proffer clear recommendations with suggested milestones for the country as it relates to SDG3 in order to fast-track  progress towards UHC.