Nigeria’s health sector reforms have improved maternal and child healthcare, financing and primary healthcare delivery. However, shortages of skilled personnel, gaps in emergency obstetric care and poor data quality remain concerns.
Dr Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, National Coordinator of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Coordination Office, said this while presenting a progress report on the National Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII).
He spoke at the opening of the 2026 Joint Annual Review (JAR) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Umar-Sadiq said 12 of 13 indicators across family planning, maternal health and child health had improved, with most recording double-digit gains during the reform period.
He said findings from the 2026 Mini-Demographic and Health Survey (Mini-DHS) showed that progress in skilled birth attendance between 2023 and 2026 was 11 times faster than in the preceding five years.
According to him, improvements in postnatal checks were seven times faster, while progress in institutional deliveries was three times faster over the same period.
“The commitment was not simply to gradually reduce maternal deaths but to accelerate progress.
“The 2026 Mini-DHS findings indicate that this acceleration is beginning to take hold,” he said.
He said maternal death case fatality rates in facilities supported by the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) had declined by 60 per cent, exceeding the initial target of 30 per cent.
Umar-Sadiq attributed the improvement to stronger governance, financing, facility readiness, service utilisation, referrals, emergency transportation and financial protection for patients.
He said disbursements during the reform period had reached nearly N250 billion, while the number of Level Two facilities had doubled nationwide.
He added that 171 of the 172 targeted local government areas had activated emergency transportation arrangements, with nearly 130,000 cases recorded.
According to him, almost 100,000 beneficiaries had also received support through National Health Insurance Authority programmes covering maternal and newborn healthcare and fistula care.
On state-level performance, Umar-Sadiq said all states had revamped their annual operational plans and aligned them with their budgets. More than 20 states had increased health budget releases and execution compared with previous years.
He, however, identified shortages of health workers, gaps in Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (CEmONC), challenges in deploying community healthcare workers and concerns about data quality as issues requiring urgent attention.
He said the next phase of the reforms would focus on sustaining effective interventions, increasing domestic health financing, strengthening emergency obstetric care and infrastructure, and deepening accountability through communities, traditional institutions and civil society organisations.
Earlier, Dr John Ovuoraye, Director of Health Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said the review was taking place in the third year of the 2023–2027 Health Sector Renewal Compact, with 2027 marking its final year of implementation.
Ovuoraye said the three-day meeting, scheduled to end on Thursday, would assess national and state performance, track progress on agreed commitments, identify best practices and set priorities for accelerating health sector reforms in 2027.
“The 2026 Joint Annual Review Statistical Book is designed to achieve five major objectives.
“First, to review national and state performance under the Health Sector Renewal and Universal Health Coverage Compact.
“Second, to track progress on the priorities and commitments of the National Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, as well as the resolutions of the 2025 Sector-Wide Joint Annual Review,” he said.
He said the review would also evaluate performance under the Sector-Wide Approach framework, promote multisectoral learning and collaboration, and help stakeholders identify opportunities to improve performance and agree on the way forward for 2027.
The JAR provides a platform for governments, development partners and other health sector stakeholders to assess national and state health performance and track commitments under the health sector renewal programme.
It also identifies good practices and areas requiring improvement, strengthens collaboration among stakeholders and helps them agree on actions to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
