FG seeks effective health coordination to end barriers to healthcare access

The Federal Government has called for effective coordination among healthcare providers and stronger accountability in the health sector to remove barriers to access and ensure that Nigerians receive quality and affordable healthcare, irrespective of their location or socio-economic status.

The Director of Health Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr John Ovuoraye, made the call in a keynote address delivered at the Health Equity Conference organised by OneBarrow International Limited in Abuja.

The conference was themed “From Policy to Impact: Care Coordination as the Core Engine of Health Equity”.

Ovuoraye said Nigeria needed coordinated, evidence-based reforms to strengthen its health system and advance Universal Health Coverage, with the goal of ensuring that every Nigerian could access quality healthcare without financial hardship by 2030.

He said the Federal Government was pursuing stronger collaboration, improved accountability and better alignment of results through the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and the Sector-Wide Approach to health sector coordination.

According to him, the success of health policies should be measured by their impact on the lives of ordinary Nigerians rather than the number of policy documents produced or meetings convened.

“The true test of any health policy is not the number of documents or policies produced or meetings convened. It is the extent to which the policy improves the lives of ordinary Nigerians,” he said.

Ovuoraye urged government representatives, development partners, professional bodies, civil society organisations and private sector stakeholders to translate their commitments into practical and measurable outcomes.

He described the conference as timely, given Nigeria’s efforts to achieve Universal Health Coverage by 2030, stressing the need for policies to reach the people they were designed to serve.

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer and founder of OneBarrow International Limited, Yemi Ajayi, said poor coordination among healthcare institutions and professionals remained a major obstacle to effective healthcare delivery.

Ajayi explained that patients often had to navigate the health system themselves, carrying medical records between facilities, repeating their medical histories and struggling to understand referrals, treatment costs and where to seek further care.

He said patients’ healthcare journeys could involve hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, specialists, health insurers and emergency transport services, making effective communication and information-sharing essential.

“When those connections fail, the patient and family are often left to coordinate the systems themselves,” he said.

Ajayi said the conference was designed to bring regulators, healthcare professionals, government agencies, private sector organisations and civil society groups together to identify gaps in patients’ journeys and develop practical solutions.

He explained that the discussions would produce a joint communiqué and an implementation matrix outlining proposed actions, responsible institutions, timelines and indicators for monitoring progress.

According to him, the recommendations would be circulated to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, relevant health councils, regulatory bodies and state-level stakeholders for consideration and implementation.

He said the recommendations would also provide a baseline for measuring progress at the 2027 Health Equity Conference.

Ajayi clarified that the initiative was not a reform in itself but a private sector-led platform aimed at identifying obstacles to equitable healthcare and supporting institutions in addressing them.

He said better coordination would enable doctors, pharmacists and laboratory professionals to access relevant patient information, improve treatment decisions and ensure continuity of care.

The OneBarrow founder added that the organisation was willing to work with government agencies, financial institutions, insurers and healthcare providers to close gaps in service delivery, particularly in rural and underserved communities.

He also called for greater public awareness of the importance of prioritising healthcare, noting that experiences from community medical outreaches had revealed challenges in people’s willingness to pay for medical services.

Ajayi stressed the need for government policies and private sector financing to complement each other in ensuring that Nigerians in rural, semi-urban and urban communities could access appropriate healthcare.

Also speaking, Kamilu Abdullahi, who represented the Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, Dr Al-Hassan S. Ndagi, said regulatory agencies were working towards a coordinated approach to patient care through an initiative bringing together 14 regulatory bodies.

Abdullahi, who said he had been appointed a focal person for the health equity initiative, explained that the platform was intended to strengthen collaboration among regulators and improve the quality of patient care.

He said the Nursing and Midwifery Council was taking steps to improve nursing and midwifery services through increased training capacity, stricter accreditation standards and measures to ensure that practitioners remained competent and properly licensed.

According to him, admission quotas for nursing training institutions had increased, with some colleges doubling their capacity, subject to available resources.

He added that the council had expanded the use of computer-based examinations and improved the timely release of students’ results.

Abdullahi said the council had also strengthened the accreditation of training institutions, including internship centres, while providing supervisory support at state level to verify nurses’ licences and ensure they remained valid.

He identified these measures as important steps towards tackling quackery and improving the standard of healthcare services.

He further said the council had developed national procedural guidelines for nurses, public health nurses and midwives to guide training institutions and healthcare facilities in maintaining professional standards and updating practitioners’ skills.