The Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos State branch, Dr Babajide Saheed, has called for a major shift in health funding priorities, saying primary healthcare should receive between 60 and 70 per cent of budgetary allocations across all tiers of government.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Morning Brief programme on Monday, Dr Saheed emphasised that primary healthcare remains the most critical component for accessible, preventive, and community-based medical services.
He argued that without strong investment at this level, efforts to improve overall health outcomes would continue to falter.
“I always said, I will continue to say it, you look at the federal government, the state government and local government, are not listening.
“And the main thing is that the primary healthcare is the most important thing in the health sector, in the healthcare delivery system,” he said.
According to him, primary healthcare should take priority over secondary and tertiary care in public spending, noting that the current structure in Nigeria places disproportionate emphasis on higher-level healthcare facilities.
“The primary healthcare should take about 60 to 70 per cent of the budgetary allocation, now followed by the secondary and now followed by the tertiary,” Saheed said.
He lamented what he described as the persistent neglect of primary healthcare by successive governments, warning that such an approach undermines the entire health system.
“Unfortunately, in this country, governments face more secondary and tertiary and neglect the primary healthcare, which is the basic of care in any country of the world.
“Any country that has no primary healthcare, it has a failed health system. We are having a failed health system in this country,” he added.
Using Lagos State as an example, Saheed said the available primary healthcare infrastructure was grossly inadequate for the state’s population.
“Because in Lagos State now, we have about 300 primary care centres. With the population of Lagos, that primary care centre cannot cover the whole Lagos,” he said.
He further questioned the staffing capacity of the existing facilities, particularly the availability of doctors.
“And from these 300 primary care centres, how many of them have doctors? Those are the questions we must also ask,” Saheed said.
The call comes amid widespread criticism of the Federal Government’s 2026 health sector allocation.
Recent budget documents show the sector receiving approximately N2.48 trillion, representing roughly 4% of the total national budget.
The NMA has repeatedly described this as grossly inadequate, equating to about N10,400 per Nigerian citizen annually.
Read the full article here
