16/12/2025
The fight for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Nigeria requires not just increased funding, but a fundamental commitment to transparency, efficiency, and accountability in how every health Naira is spent.
The Roundtable on National Health Accounts (Expenditure) is a timely platform to address the critical issue of minimizing leakages in the Nigerian Health Sector. For the TB control programme, this efficiency is a matter of life and death.
Why Accountability is Essential for TB Control:
1. Ensuring Essential Supply Chains: Leakages, whether due to mismanagement or corruption, break the chain of supply. Funds meant for purchasing TB drugs, diagnostics, and maintaining laboratories must reach their intended purpose. Disruption means patients cannot complete their treatment, leading to drug resistance and increased community transmission.
2. Protecting the Vulnerable: TB disproportionately affects the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians. When funds are mismanaged, the primary health care centers—the first line of defense and treatment for TB—are often the ones that suffer, forcing patients into catastrophic out-of-pocket spending. Zero leakages mean zero catastrophic costs for TB patients.
3. Maximizing Domestic Investment: Nigeria still faces a significant funding gap for TB control, heavily relying on external partners. As the country works towards greater domestic resource mobilization (DRM)—like expanding the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA)—we must ensure these new funds are managed with unimpeachable integrity.
We must move from merely tracking expenditure to tracking impact. Every financial transaction must be traceable, auditable, and clearly linked to the health outcomes we seek, particularly in finding the missing TB cases and ensuring successful treatment completion.
The time for abstract financial targets is over. We urge all stakeholders—Government, Partners, Civil Society, and the Media—to use the National Health Accounts data to:
* Establish clear benchmarks for efficient service delivery.
* Strengthening public financial management (PFM) systems across all levels of health care.
* Institute strict oversight mechanisms to prevent the diversion of funds intended for frontline services, including TB care.
Accountability is the vital foundation for a resilient Nigerian health system and the pathway to achieving our and goals.
