The Chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Lagos State branch, Dr. Saheed Babajide, has called on governments at all levels to allocate up to 70 per cent of their health budgets to primary healthcare (PHC), describing it as the most effective way to improve health outcomes and reduce pressure on tertiary hospitals.

Dr. Babajide made the call while speaking on a television programme in Lagos, where he lamented the persistent neglect of primary healthcare despite its critical role as the foundation of the health system. According to him, prioritising PHC would strengthen preventive care, early disease detection and community-based health services, thereby reducing avoidable deaths and healthcare costs. He noted that Nigeria’s health spending pattern remains skewed towards secondary and tertiary care, leaving primary healthcare centres underfunded, understaffed and poorly equipped. In Lagos, he said many of the existing primary healthcare centres are overstretched due to the state’s rapidly growing population, while several communities still lack adequate access to basic health services. The NMA chairman also expressed concern over Nigeria’s overall health budget, which currently accounts for just over four per cent of the federal budget. He pointed out that this figure falls far below the 15 per cent benchmark set by the Abuja Declaration, to which Nigeria is a signatory, and argued that the low allocation continues to undermine efforts to achieve universal health coverage. Dr. Babajide urged policymakers to see health spending as an investment rather than a cost, stressing that a well-funded primary healthcare system would improve maternal and child health, boost immunisation coverage and enhance disease prevention nationwide. His call aligns with similar concerns raised by other medical and health professional bodies, who have criticised the federal government’s health allocation and warned that inadequate funding could worsen health indicators, particularly among vulnerable populations.