The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, on Wednesday said patient satisfaction with healthcare facilities and primary healthcare services is at 74 per cent.

Pate, who made this statement at the 2025 Joint Annual Review of the Health Sector themed, “All hands, one mission: Bringing the Nigerian health sector to light,” noted that confidence in the overall direction of the health system has risen to 55 per cent.

The Joint Annual Review serves as one of Nigeria’s most important accountability platforms for the health sector, bringing stakeholders together to review progress, assess performance, and align priorities for the coming year.

Last year, the ministry also launched the country’s first-ever State of Health Report, which provided a comprehensive analysis of the nation’s healthcare system and outlined a clear way forward for the sector.

In his speech, Minister Pate stated that citizens’ perception surveys conducted in 2023, 2024, and 2025 show encouraging results.

He emphasized, “In line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive that our policies must respond to the needs and experiences of Nigerians, we conducted citizens’ perception surveys in 2023, 2024, and again in 2025. Thousands of Nigerians shared their experiences and expectations of the health system.”

He highlighted the positive findings, stating, “The findings are encouraging. The proportion of citizens who believe that the government considers their views in health decision-making now stands at nearly half the population.”

Furthermore, he noted, “Confidence in the overall direction of the health system has risen to 55 per cent, while confidence in the government’s capacity to manage health emergencies is now at 67 per cent.”

He added a strong commendation: “Patient satisfaction with healthcare facilities and primary healthcare services remains strong at 74 percent. This is a commendable result, given the challenges our system still faces,” he said.

However, the Minister noted a significant barrier: affordability. “However, citizens have clearly indicated that affordability remains a major concern. Access to services is improving, but affordability must improve further. I am pleased to note that, through the commitment of the Ministers of Finance and Budget, plans such as the Medical Relief Programme and expanded social health protection are underway to ease these pressures.”

He also noted progress in health insurance coverage, which has grown from around six to seven percent two years ago to 12 per cent today, driven by mandatory health insurance implementation and the operationalisation of the Vulnerable Groups Fund.

Pate affirmed, “These results show that the measures we have put in place to reduce fragmentation, improve coordination, and enhance national ownership are beginning to yield real results,” he added.

Pate stated that the ministry will consolidate the gains, sustain financing, and continue expanding health insurance coverage, especially for the poor and vulnerable.

He stressed the importance of primary healthcare, saying, “We must strengthen the primary health care system, which remains the foundation of our journey to Universal Health Coverage. We also thank the National Assembly, the Senate, and the House of Representatives for their unwavering oversight and support.”

He noted that appropriations and fund releases are increasingly reflecting real sector performance, adding, “Appropriations and releases of funds are increasingly reflecting in real sector performance, and we will continue to ensure that every naira invested in health translates into measurable outcomes for Nigerians.”

To achieve their goals, he detailed plans to advance the localisation agenda: “To achieve our goals, we will advance the localisation agenda, reducing dependency on external assistance by mobilising domestic resources, boosting local manufacturing of medicines, vaccines, and health technologies, and building resilient supply chains.”

He also called on state and local governments to invest more in complementary sectors, consistent with the President’s ward-based development approach.

The Minister mentioned exploring innovative financing options like fiscal measures on sugar-sweetened beverages, public-private partnerships, and digital solutions.

Regarding the health workforce, he emphasized that in the last year, more than 20,000 frontline health workers have been recruited into federal tertiary hospitals to fill longstanding gaps. “Within the last few months, over N50bn has been approved to address arrears, allowances, and professional needs across cadres.”

He concluded with a call to action for health workers: “We are constructively engaging with health professional leaders to resolve long-standing issues responsibly. Our call to all health workers is simple: put the Nigerian person at the centre of attention. If we do that, all other issues can be resolved,” he added.

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Salako, noted that the ministry is implementing and advancing bold reforms to address the many challenges faced by the Nigerian health system, including workforce shortages, infrastructural deficits, financing gaps, fragmentation, and decreasing confidence in the system.

Salako said the operationalisation of the National Health System Reform and Investment Initiative is framed as a strategic investment.

He quantified the potential economic returns, stating, “The Operationalisation of the NHSRII is not just an opportunity for expense, it is an investment with clear returns. We estimate an economic return worth N4.8tn annually saved from losses to preventable disease recoverable through the blueprint.”

He also addressed the issue of medical tourism, noting, “We are equally poised to achieve a significant reversal of the direction of medical tourism, with the potential to domestically retain an estimated N850bn spent abroad annually by Nigerians on medical tourism.”

Salako further detailed the social impact, saying, “We foresee a massive social return in lives saved, with a potential 50 per cent reduction in preventable maternal and child deaths, advancing equity by closing the almost 19-year life expectancy gap between states. NSHRII implementation will ensure that our health security is strengthened and we have a pandemic-ready health system.”

He highlighted key milestones under the roadmap, including not less than 21 new strategic policies, new health infrastructure like over 500 new high-impact projects, 13 new federal tertiary health institutions, and six cancer centres of excellence. While acknowledging that the national health financing budget is still far below the Abuja declaration, Salako noted progress and mentioned exploring additional mechanisms.

He specifically highlighted the advocacy to increase the Basic Health Care Provision Fund: “The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare strongly supports the ongoing advocacy of the health committees in the national assembly to increase the BHCPF from its current one per cent to two per cent of the consolidated revenue fund.”

He concluded by noting the shift in budget disbursement: “There has also been a paradigm shift with respect to disbursement of health budgets, as exemplified by the BHCPF, which is tied to key Disbursement Link Indicators that ensure that funds are disbursed for results rather than processes,” Salako highlighted.