At the National Health Financing Dialogue, Health Minister Muhammad Pate cautioned that reliance on donor funding weakens institutions and called for stronger domestic financing and institutional ownership, a message echoed by officials proposing legislative and systemic reforms.
At the National Health Financing Dialogue in Abuja, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare Muhammad Pate stressed that while donor funding has been useful, Nigeria must prioritise mobilising domestic resources to sustain health services and protect vulnerable populations.
Speaking during a panel session on “Reflections on Emerging Challenges in Health Financing,” the minister urged development partners to stop bypassing national institutions with parallel projects, warning that “such practices weaken rather than strengthen the country’s health financing systems.”
He added, “If you bypass them and create separate budgets outside the government, you are allowing waste.” Pate called for partners to align with the government’s sector-wide approach using national systems, even if weak, to help improve them: “Over time, there should be no stand-alone delivery units.
The funds should go directly through ministries with proper safeguards.” Former AfDB president Donald Kaberuka echoed the call for domestic responsibility, emphasising the “four A’s” of service delivery: availability, accessibility, affordability and accountability. Meanwhile, Senate Health Committee Chairperson Ipalibo Harry-Banigo revealed that lawmakers are considering doubling the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and establishing a dedicated immunisation account to boost health financing.