The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, has urged sustained commitment to health sector reforms to consolidate gains recorded under the World Bank-funded IMPACT Project.
Pate made the call at the end-of-project dissemination of the Immunisation Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Services (IMPACT) Project in Abuja.
The event was part of activities marking the close of the 2026 Health Sector Joint Annual Review (JAR), which began on Tuesday.
Pate said Nigeria’s health sector reforms had evolved over more than two decades, shifting from investments in infrastructure, equipment and procurement to approaches focused on measurable health outcomes.
“Nigeria’s health reform journey has been a long one. There’s an evolution that has been going on for 22 years in Nigeria’s healthcare system,” he said.
He said the shift towards results-based financing reflected the need to prioritise measurable outcomes rather than activities.
“The paradigm shift is that you cannot reward effort. You need to reward result,” Pate said.
He said the IMPACT Project, approved in 2020 with 650 million dollars in financing, represented the first phase of a multi-phase programme.
According to him, the project helped facilitate the transition from investment lending to a results-based system anchored on the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
“The challenge for us is then how to sustain it, because reform is a continuous process,” he said.
Pate said subsequent phases would build on the project’s achievements through the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, the Sector-Wide Approach and the HOPE programme.
The World Bank Country Director, Matthew Verghis, said the project demonstrated the value of sustained investment in primary healthcare and collaboration across different levels of government.
Verghis said the project increased health facility quality-of-care scores from 39.3 per cent to 50.2 per cent and upgraded more than 2,600 Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities.
He said more than 10 million insecticide-treated nets were procured and distributed, while over 20 million dollars was transferred directly to PHC facilities.
The project also financed about 170 million dollars in routine vaccine procurement over four years, helping Nigeria meet its domestic co-financing obligations and access vaccine financing, he said.
Verghis added that more than 15,000 health workers were engaged to address staffing gaps, while over 6,000 PHC facilities received laptops.
He said the gains would be sustained through the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative and the HOPE programmes.
“Project closure is not the end of this journey,” Verghis said, urging stakeholders to integrate the project’s lessons and investments into stronger national health systems.
The National Coordinator, National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), Dr Nnenna Ogbulafor, said malaria prevalence declined from 27 per cent at the beginning of the project to 15.2 per cent.
She said the project also supported Nigeria’s 2025 Malaria Indicator Survey with minimal assistance from other partners.
Ogbulafor said it facilitated the development of the National Malaria Strategic Plan 2026–2030 and supported the country’s largest larval source management intervention.
She added that the project supported locally produced next-generation insecticide-treated nets and strengthened malaria diagnosis, treatment and commodity distribution.
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Muyi Aina, said the project contributed to improved immunisation coverage and primary healthcare delivery.
Aina said 16.6 million children were fully immunised, exceeding the project target of 9.3 million.
He said the proportion of fully immunised children aged 12 to 23 months rose from 31 per cent to 39.7 per cent, surpassing the 36 per cent target.
According to him, malaria prevalence declined from 22 per cent in 2021 to 15 per cent in 2025, while under-five mortality fell from 102 to 90 deaths per 1,000 live births.
He said more than 2,500 PHC facilities were upgraded to Level Two functionality across 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Other interventions included financing 200 million vaccine doses between 2023 and 2025, providing 3,144 solar direct-drive refrigerators and distributing 4.68 million long-lasting insecticidal nets.
Aina said 5.8 million pregnant women also received at least three doses of intermittent preventive treatment for malaria.
He urged state and local governments to take ownership of the facilities, equipment and other assets provided under the project.
“The IMPACT Project closes on Dec. 31, but a health centre does not,” he said.
The National Programme Manager of the IMPACT Project, Dr Amina Mohammed, said implementation began in February 2021, expanding from 18 states to 30 states and the FCT.
Mohammed said the project had three main components: Immunisation Plus, Knowledge for Change and Malaria, while a fourth emergency response component was not activated.
She said under-five mortality declined from 132 to 90 deaths per 1,000 live births, while the proportion of febrile children receiving artemisinin-based combination therapy increased from 8.1 per cent to 47.2 per cent.
She added that the project supported the training of 79,000 healthcare workers and established a vaccine storage hub in Lagos.
The event also featured awards to individuals and teams recognised for their contributions to the project’s implementation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the IMPACT Project was designed to improve immunisation coverage, expand access to malaria interventions and reduce under-five mortality through investments in PHC, vaccines, commodities, infrastructure and health systems.
It was implemented through national agencies and state institutions with support from the World Bank. (NAN)
