…Seeks To Close $134bn Health Financing Gap
…Unveils National Child Survival Action Plan
The Federal Government has unveiled a plan to reduce preventable childhood deaths in Nigeria by closing the country’s $134bn health financing gap, with a major focus on cutting under-five mortality as part of efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3 by 2030.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Ishiaq Salako, disclosed this on Wednesday at the 57th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria, PANCOF Gateway 2025, where he said about $103bn would be required specifically to tackle under-five mortality.
Represented by the Deputy Director of Child Health, Dr Omokore Oluseyi, Salako said child survival had become a top priority under the Health Sector Investment Plan.
He said the Federal Ministry of Health had finalised a National Child Survival Action Plan, targeting evidence-based interventions such as newborn resuscitation, integrated nutrition services and community-based management of childhood illnesses.
“To drive these initiatives, we are leveraging technology by digitalising the integrated community case management platform to improve real-time diagnosis, referral and data capture,” Salako said.
Salako noted that Nigeria accounts for over 17 per cent of global under-five deaths, with prematurity, pneumonia, malaria and malnutrition identified as the leading causes of preventable child mortality.
He urged health sector stakeholders to support implementation by addressing operational bottlenecks in newborn care, child nutrition and digital health systems.
“We urge Nigerians and development partners to identify operational and implementation constraints across the country. Your feedback will continue to guide policy formulation and accelerate our collective efforts to end preventable deaths in Nigeria,” he added.
In his keynote address, a Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Ilorin and Strategic Adviser to the Ministry of Health on Malaria Elimination, Prof. Olugbenga Mokolu, said innovative financing and technology deployment were critical to meeting SDG health targets.
Speaking on the theme, Achieving SDG-3 and Child Healthcare through Innovative Funding Models and Technology-Driven Solutions, he said Nigeria must strengthen domestic resource mobilisation, expand social health insurance coverage and deploy digital tools to bridge funding and service delivery gaps.
“The sustainable development agenda seeks to promote wellbeing for all, especially children, through reduced mortality and improved healthcare outcomes. Innovation, financing and technology deployment are central to achieving these goals,” Mokolu said, adding that mobile platforms, point-of-care devices and electronic medical records could help close service gaps.
Also speaking, the Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker, said the Basic Health Care Provision Fund was strengthening primary healthcare delivery across states, including Ogun.
Represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Dr Tayo Lawal, she said innovative financing models and technology integration were improving access to maternal and child healthcare services, particularly for vulnerable mothers and infants.
