Health Minister Seeks Improved Vaccine Access for Nigerians in Rural Areas
Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, has called for stronger efforts to ensure that vaccines and other life-saving interventions reach citizens living in rural and underserved communities.
Prof. Pate made the appeal in Abuja at the close of the National Health Financing Policy Dialogue, where he stressed the urgent need to reduce disparities in healthcare access across the country.
He lamented that many children continue to die from preventable diseases such as measles simply because they cannot access vaccines.
“People in remote areas farmers, traders, teachers, policemen, military every Nigerian deserves affordable and equitable access to life-saving interventions,” the minister said.
The health minister urged the three tiers of government to demonstrate greater commitment to healthcare financing, stressing that sustainable reforms depend on adequate investment at the federal, state, and local government levels.
As part of his reform proposals, Prof. Pate recommended the adoption of state-level health financing scorecards to track commitments, spending, and results.
According to him, this will improve accountability and ensure that resources are better targeted to communities most in need.
He also emphasized the importance of locally relevant research in shaping policies, warning that strategies not grounded in evidence risk failure. Drawing from international examples, Prof. Pate cited China’s progress in expanding healthcare through increased public investment, noting that Nigeria must also prioritize universal health coverage.
The four-day policy dialogue, themed “Reimagining the Future of Health Financing in Nigeria”, brought together government officials, civil society groups, private sector actors, and development partners.
Discussions focused on ways to reduce out-of-pocket spending, strengthen domestic health investment, and improve transparency in the health sector.
Prof. Pate reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to closing immunisation gaps, pledging that rural Nigerians would remain central to ongoing health sector reforms.
