 has finally been launched in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.){kind=link}
After 3 years of evidence-based research, Nigeria’s Country Health Systems and Services Profile (CHSSP) has finally been launched in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The profile was developed under the auspices of the Africa Health Observatory Platform (AHOP), with strong support from the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, international development partners, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, Veritas University, the Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria (APHN), amongst others.
The book launch, held in Abuja, had several dignitaries in attendance, including the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammed Ali Pate, who was represented by Dr Kamil A. Shoretire, Director, Health Planning, Research and Statistics. The historic occasion puts Nigeria in the enviable league of only 5 countries globally, and indeed the first in Africa, that have completed their country’s health systems and documentation progress.
According to available statistics, Nigeria’s health sector is facing a myriad of challenges and is currently operating at 45 per cent, instead of the acceptable benchmark of 54 per cent African regional average. Indeed, with the launch of Nigeria’s CHSSP, it is hoped that its effective implementation will serve as a dependable compass in the government’s ongoing health sector reform programme and enhance overall health service delivery in Nigeria.
Professor Obinna Onwujekwe, the Coordinator of the National Centre for Health Policy Systems, said, “The book establishes where we are in Nigeria in terms of our health system performance and in terms of service delivery. So, it’s a kind of call to action that this is where we are, and it can help us to know that this is where we should be going. It provides evidence about how we are performing, what the problems are, and what we should be doing to improve our health systems for the benefit of the citizens.”
Speaking further, Professor Onwujekwe, who co-authored and also edited the book, said, rather regrettably, that “We are not working the way we are supposed to be working; we are performing at 45 per cent; Africa is 54 per cent. And 75 per cent of healthcare funding is out-of-pocket. So, things have to improve,” he concluded.
The Minister of Health’s representative, Dr Kamil Shoretire, stressed that although a lot has taken place in Nigeria’s health sector in the last couple of months, under the watch of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the launch of the CHSSP is nonetheless a “significant milestone” towards building a health system that truly serves the needs of Nigeria’s vast population.
He emphasised that the Nigerian government is aware of the numerous challenges highlighted in the book and has consequently embarked on a holistic reform process with the launch of the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative to revamp Nigeria’s health care value chain. Describing the Country Health Systems and Services Profile as “More than a diagnostic tool; the Minister said, “It is a compass that will guide our policy decisions and investments… it establishes a rigorous baseline against which we can measure our progress in the years ahead. It will inform our strategic planning, help us prioritise interventions, and enable us to track whether our reforms are producing the desired outcomes or not.”
The coordinating minister of health commended the African Health Observatory Platform (AHOP) in Nigeria and their strategic partners, for their collective effort in compiling the Country Health Systems and Services Profile, CHSSP, and for “creating a mechanism through which African countries can learn from one another.”
The minister urged all stakeholders, civil society and private organisations to join hands with the Nigerian government in building a resilient health sector, as part of efforts towards realising the government’s target of achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.