Nigeria revitalizes 4,434 primary health centers, boosts diphtheria outbreak response

By Ojoma Akor

Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) says 4,434 primary healthcare facilities across Nigeria have been completed or are nearing completion under the Federal Government’s health facility revitalization program.

The agency said it was also working with the Nigeria Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and state governments to intensify outbreak responses against diphtheria.

Director-General of the NPHCDA, Dr Muyi Aina, disclosed this on Thursday during the agency’s quarterly media briefing, saying 3,526 facilities had been fully renovated, commissioned and handed over to states and local governments. In contrast, work was ongoing on 91 others.

He said the program was designed to improve access to quality primary healthcare services, particularly in underserved communities, through infrastructure upgrades, improved staffing, equipment, and reliable water and electricity supply.

He said the number of functional primary healthcare centers had increased, with more than half of the approximately 27,000 active facilities operating at Level One or Level Two standards.

According to him, Level Two facilities are being equipped with solar power, reliable water supplies and sanitation facilities to improve service delivery.

The agency is also working towards establishing Level Two primary healthcare facilities in every ward, alongside additional Level One facilities, to reduce geographical barriers to essential healthcare.

“We are not at the end; we are not even close to the end yet, but we have made remarkable progress,” Aina said.

Diphtheria outbreaks linked to incomplete vaccination

Despite the improvements in primary healthcare infrastructure, Aina warned that ongoing diphtheria outbreaks exposed persistent gaps in routine immunization and the influence of misinformation on vaccine acceptance.

He said an analysis of cases across affected locations showed that about 93 percent of children infected during the outbreaks had either not been vaccinated or had not completed the recommended doses.

Aina said the situation should serve as a wake-up call to parents, caregivers, community leaders and teachers to ensure children receive all recommended vaccines.

He noted that vaccine hesitancy was no longer confined to particular communities, adding that resistance to vaccination was also being observed among some educated and affluent populations.

According to him, confirmed diphtheria deaths have been reported in 25 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, with Katsina, Kano, Plateau, Sokoto and Yobe among the states experiencing significant numbers of suspected and confirmed cases.

Aina disclosed that more than 1.5 million doses of pentavalent vaccine and 2.6 million doses of diphtheria-tetanus (DT) vaccine had been supplied across affected states to support vaccination efforts.

He added that house-to-house vaccination campaigns were being conducted in outbreak locations.

However, the NPHCDA chief stressed that emergency vaccination campaigns alone would not provide a sustainable solution without stronger routine immunization and greater public confidence in vaccines.

“The long-term solution to this is that everybody takes responsibility for getting their ward and children vaccinated,” he said.

Primary healthcare attendance rises

Aina also reported increased use of primary healthcare services, attributing the improvement to investments in facility revitalization, health worker training, equipment, and service delivery.

He said quarterly patient contacts at primary healthcare facilities rose from approximately 33–34 million at the start of the current reform effort to between 43 million and 45 million, peaking at 46 million in 2025.

The agency has also retrained more than 78,000 skilled birth attendants as part of President Bola Tinubu’s target of retraining 120,000 frontline health workers.

A further 23,000 community-based health workers are being targeted for retraining to extend essential services to remote communities where conventional health facilities may be difficult to access.

Aina said the Federal Government had directly equipped more than 500 primary healthcare centers, while additional facilities benefited from investments by state governments, development partners and private-sector organizations.

He clarified that the 4,434 facilities covered by the broader revitalization program should not be confused with those the Federal Government directly equipped through the NPHCDA.

The agency, he explained, mobilizes resources and coordinates partnerships, while states and local governments retain constitutional responsibility for operating and maintaining primary healthcare facilities.

He called on state governments to commit more resources to maintaining upgraded facilities and permanently employing health workers.

Maternal health program records progress

On maternal and newborn health, Aina said the agency’s Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Initiative (MAMII) had expanded across multiple states, focusing on communities with particularly high maternal mortality and low healthcare utilization.

The program links pregnant women to primary healthcare facilities, tracks their progress through pregnancy and delivery, and connects them to appropriate services, including emergency obstetric care.

He disclosed that more than 773,000 pregnant women had been linked to primary healthcare centers and tracked across 10 states under the program’s reporting figures.

Aina also reported a 17 percent decline in facility-based maternal mortality in the 172 local government areas covered by the initiative, comparing baseline figures with those recorded one year after implementation.

He described the reduction as encouraging but insufficient, noting that stronger interventions would be required to achieve further declines in preventable maternal deaths.

Aina also highlighted the National Community Food Bank program, an initiative led by the First Lady in partnership with the NPHCDA to support vulnerable households.

He said 23 food banks had been established in 23 local government areas, delivering approximately 9,500 food packages to 2,488 beneficiaries. He added that state governments were increasingly taking ownership of the initiative, with several expanding the program.

Millions reached with new vaccines

The NPHCDA director-general said Nigeria had made progress in introducing and expanding vaccines against preventable diseases.

He disclosed that more than 18.3 million girls had received the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which protects against HPV infections associated with cervical cancer.

The meningitis vaccine had reached more than 102 million children aged between nine months and 14 years, while approximately 882,000 children in Kebbi, Bayelsa, Ondo and Bauchi states had received at least the first dose of the malaria vaccine.

Aina said routine immunization coverage was also improving gradually, although the agency continued to face challenges reaching zero-dose children and underserved populations.

He added that the government was considering how to expand the malaria vaccination program while ensuring that children completed all four required doses.