Abuja: The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has endorsed Nigeria’s ongoing health sector reforms as pivotal in promoting the continent’s goals to revolutionize Primary Health Care (PHC) systems. Dr. Landry Tsague, Director of PHC at the Africa CDC, highlighted this during the opening of a three-day Continental Consultation on Community Health in Abuja.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the consultation was organized by Africa CDC in partnership with UNICEF and the African Union Commission (AUC). The event, titled ‘Validation of the 2024 Community Health Landscape Survey: Shaping the CHW Strategy, Scorecard and Strategic Action’, gathered delegates from all 55 AU Member States to validate survey findings and shape future strategies for community health delivery across Africa.
Tsague praised Nigeria’s reforms, emphasizing their foundation on domestic financing, community engagement, and transparent governance. He noted that Nigeria’s approach offers a replicable model for other member states, serving as a strong basis for peer learning, advocacy, and regional collaboration.
He also acknowledged President Bola Tinubu’s leadership as the AU Champion for Health Workforce and Community Health Delivery Partnership, underscoring his role in driving continental efforts to enhance PHC systems. Tsague pointed out the importance of investment in PHC and Community Health Workers (CHWs) as crucial for Africa’s development.
Highlighting Africa CDC’s ‘Five Plus One’ PHC transformation strategy, Tsague referred to workforce transformation, digital and infrastructure transformation, commodity security, financial access, and quality of care and data, with governance and accountability as the sixth pillar supporting resilient health systems.
Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Salako, declared the meeting open, reaffirming Nigeria’s dedication to the AU’s goal of deploying two million CHWs across Africa by 2030. Salako emphasized the critical role of CHWs as the initial line of defence in health education and community health system linkage.
Salako also noted Nigeria’s achievements, including tripling the annual training of Community Health Workers (CHWs) over the past three years and incorporating digital platforms into community service delivery. The country is aligning its health budgets through basket fund mechanisms to reinforce community health financing.
UNICEF’s Deputy Representative in Nigeria, Dr. Rownak Khan, highlighted the impact of CHWs in reducing under-five mortality in Rwanda, Malawi, and Ethiopia, stressing that the return on investment in community health is substantial. She expressed optimism regarding the AU’s goal of deploying an additional one million CHWs within four years due to increased political will across Africa.
Dr. Muyi Aina, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), spoke about the redesign of Nigeria’s national community health programme in collaboration with state governments and development partners. Represented by Dr. Ngozi Nwosu, Director of PHC Systems Development, Aina shared plans to recruit, train, and deploy 70,000 Community-Based Health Workers (CBHWs) by 2029, targeting 160 million Nigerians.
Aina added that the NPHCDA would provide salary support to states to integrate CBHWs into their civil service structures. He reported that eight states have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, with five initiating recruitment. The agency will also offer training, job aids, commodities, and digital tools to support service delivery.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the consultation aims to develop a Community Health Scorecard, strategic recommendations, and a continental framework to support the AU’s 2030 target for CHW deployment.