Revitalization of Public Healthcare: Gates Foundation Promises Continued Commitment in Nigeria 

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

The Gates Foundation has expressed its full commitment to the development of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC) in the country.

The commitment was expressed by The Deputy Director, Health Systems Strengthening at Gates Foundation Nigeria, Dr. Nkata Chuku, during the PHC Leadership Challenge in Abuja, put together by the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Gates Foundation and other development partners.

Chuku said the Foundation remains fully aligned with the government of Nigeria’s determination to revitalize primary health care.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and development partners, including UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) supported the event.

He also noted the 2025 performance landscape emerging from national surveys, high-frequency monitoring, and administrative data shows both progress and gaps in the country’s health systems.

According to him, routine immunization continues its upward trajectory, with national percentage coverage now in the high-60s, and several states crossing 75%, compared to the low-60s in 2022.

He said between July 2024 and October 2025, more than 500,000 previously zero-dose children were reached with vaccines through house-to-house outreach and targeted immunization activities.

Chuku said this represents about 24% of the estimated 2.1 million zero-dose children nationwide, reflecting significant progress through integrated campaigns including the October 2025 polio–routine immunization drive.

According to him, there is a notable decline in cVPV2 cases, dropping from triple-digit cases in 2022–2023 to fewer than 50 confirmed cases in the last 12 months and a significant closure of immunity gaps in historically weak LGAs.

About the PHC Challenge, Chuku said: “The PHC Challenge Fund is designed to accelerate precisely this type of progress. The Gates Foundation has invested $27 million, with 70% dedicated to performance awards over the past four years to fund this initiative as proof of concept.

“The current award structure of one national winner and additional awards for the best and second runners up states across all six geopolitical zones is intentional. It reflects your stated preference for peer accountability and healthy competition, recognizing that states within the same zone often face similar health-system realities.

“Over the past three years: UNICEF, NPHCDA, and the NGF Secretariat have worked closely with Commissioners, SPHCDA Executive Secretaries, and Governors to continuously refine and track a lean but powerful set of indicators to measure the health of the PHC system across the 36+1 states.

He said: “These indicators focus on areas where state leadership is decisive: political leadership, community empowerment, financial resource allocation, quality of care, monitoring and evaluation, sustainable PHC financing. These system inputs are critical for driving impact across routine immunization, MNCH, malaria, and nutrition.”

He also said the ongoing PHC revitalization agenda has renewed political commitment at state level, adding that more states now have dedicated PHC budget lines and are expanding health insurance enrolment while the integrated polio–RI campaign offers a unified delivery platform to rapidly close immunity gaps.

According to him, development partners have signaled interest in expanding the pool of incentives for high-performing states.

The minister of health, Muhammad Ali Pate, during the occasion lauded Gates Foundation for their investment in PHC revitalisation in the country.

He said government have been intervening to lower the cost of drugs, cost of medical treatment, child health insurance and would still increase the budget for health.

Pate said: “If we are going to see good health, it is an investment. We cannot expect good health at a very low price.  Someone has invested, and here, who is going to be in charge is going to have to invest in health.

“And investing in health has several multilayers. First, it is a good investment not only for the present and also for the future of the country.

“So, we need to not only invest in health but also see the health system and the environment as a whole.  So, government has been intervening to lower the cost of drugs, cost of medical treatment, child health insurance, but it is not going to be able to succeed just like that already.”

During the award ceremony, Yobe State emerged the overall winner of the PHC Leadership Challenge, outperforming other states in an independently verified assessment and wining the total sum of $1.2m.

The assessment measures governance, financing, service delivery and accountability within PHC systems.

The annual challenge, which rewards measurable improvements in state-level PHC performance, aims to strengthen accountability, peer learning and sustained political commitment to PHC reforms across Nigeria.