Consultant Lifestyle Medicine Physician Dr. Moyosore Makinde has recommended including Lifestyle Medicine services in primary healthcare as a pathway for Nigeria to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Makinde made the recommendation during an interview with reporters on Wednesday in Lagos, in commemoration of World Health Day, celebrated annually on April 7.
The 2026 theme, “Together for Health. Stand with Science,” focused on evidence-based health solutions, scientific collaboration, and the One Health approach.
According to her, achieving UHC in Nigeria begins with a simple shift—from treating sickness to promoting health.
Makinde explained that Nigeria’s health funding challenges cannot be solved by spending more on treating illness alone. Instead, the country must focus on keeping people healthy.
She emphasized the importance of investing in lifestyle medicine to help people eat better, stay active, sleep well, manage stress, and avoid harmful habits.
Lifestyle Medicine, she said, is an evidence-based approach to prevent, treat, and even reverse chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, which are on the rise in Nigeria.
“Many of the diseases costing the nation the most are NCDs,” Makinde said. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO), these diseases are largely preventable and linked to unhealthy lifestyles. If we invest in better nutrition, physical activity, stress management, and avoiding harmful habits, fewer people will fall seriously ill. When fewer people are sick, healthcare costs naturally decrease.”
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She urged strengthening the primary healthcare system, emphasizing that prevention should occur at the community level. Clinics should not only treat malaria and infections but also help people stay healthy by integrating lifestyle medicine services into primary care and family medicine clinics.
Makinde also called for an expanded health insurance scheme that covers preventive care, not just treatment.
“An effective primary healthcare system and robust insurance scheme are essential for UHC and improving health outcomes,” she said.
She highlighted the importance of promoting safe exercise facilities, healthy living and working environments, supportive social connections, and minimizing exposure to tobacco, alcohol, street drugs, pollution, stress, and poor sleep—all major contributors to NCDs.
“It is cheaper to prevent disease than to treat complications later,” she added.
Makinde noted that achieving UHC requires collective action from all stakeholders, not just the government. Schools, workplaces, religious organizations, and communities must encourage healthy behaviors.
“We can ensure more healthy restaurants serving predominantly plant-based meals with less salt and oil. People should shift from processed, sugary snacks and drinks to fruits, vegetables, and water. If the nation prioritizes prevention through lifestyle medicine, spending on expensive hospital care will decline. Health then becomes everyone’s responsibility.”
