Nigerians have called on the Federal Government to urgently resolve the ongoing strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), warning that the prolonged industrial action has severely restricted access to healthcare in public teaching and general hospitals nationwide for nearly two months.
They also urged the government to intervene swiftly to avert a looming strike by the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), cautioning that another shutdown would further paralyse the already strained health sector and lead to avoidable deaths.
The calls followed the New Year message by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, in which he highlighted what he described as significant progress in Nigeria’s health sector in 2025, noting that the country is increasingly being recognised for leadership in domestic resource mobilisation and global disease control efforts.
Reacting to the minister’s message on his X (formerly Twitter) account, several Nigerians expressed frustration over what they described as a disconnect between official narratives and realities in public hospitals.
One user, @Abubakar, wrote that secondary healthcare was rapidly deteriorating, adding that public hospitals were collapsing at an unprecedented pace. He noted that the JOHESU strike was approaching 50 days, while NARD was threatening an indefinite strike, and urged the minister to urgently address the situation.
Similarly, another user, @Dr_Yajii, criticised the government’s handling of health workforce issues, saying, “You keep pretending as if there is no problem with the man power in the healthcare system. JOHESU are on strike, NARD are planning to go for another one.”
Concerns were also raised about the absence of emergency response infrastructure. Another user, @vybeauthentiq, drew attention to the lack of ambulances on accident-prone federal highways and questioned whether this fell within the ministry’s responsibility. “Let’s start with ambulances. Can we get those? Or isn’t that one of your offices’ responsibilities? Everyday epistle — no working. Abegi”.
A Pharmanewsonline check shows that the JOHESU strike, which commenced on 15 November, has crippled healthcare delivery across public hospitals in the country. Many patients have reportedly been turned away or left without adequate medical attention, worsening health outcomes.
Reports indicate that several deaths have occurred due to delays in receiving care, with some incidents happening outside hospital settings and therefore not officially documented, making it difficult to ascertain the full impact of the strike.
Despite these challenges, the minister disclosed that in 2025, the Federal Government committed 54 million dollars in domestic resources to the global fight against tuberculosis, emerging as Africa’s largest contributor to the Global Fund, as announced at the recent G20 meeting in Johannesburg.
However, Nigerians on X intensified calls for tangible improvements in healthcare delivery in 2026.
One user, @nwachukwuiloha, questioned what steps the government was taking, noting that JOHESU remained on strike while NARD was preparing for another action.
Other users echoed similar concerns. @ikukuamanonyaa warned that a NARD strike was expected to begin the following week, while @harcetyl appealed to the minister to intervene urgently. @AdamsGarba4u noted that JOHESU had been on strike for over 50 days and that resident doctors were expected to join by 12 January.
In his address, Prof. Pate also cited sustained increases in health sector financing across all tiers of government, covering primary healthcare infrastructure, workforce development and vaccination campaigns, which he said had reinforced global confidence in Nigeria as a provider of public health solutions.
He highlighted progress in cervical cancer prevention, noting that although about 12,000 Nigerian women are diagnosed annually, the disease is largely preventable through early HPV vaccination. Since the launch of the HPV vaccination programme in October 2023 across 15 states and the Federal Capital Territory, over 14 million girls aged nine to 14 years have reportedly been vaccinated, achieving more than 90 per cent coverage.
The minister further described the introduction of Nigeria’s first malaria vaccine as a major milestone. Nigeria, which bears the world’s highest malaria burden and accounts for about 39.3 per cent of malaria-related deaths among children under five, began deploying the R21/Matrix-M vaccine to complement existing interventions such as insecticide-treated nets and seasonal malaria chemoprevention.
The rollout commenced in Bayelsa and Kebbi states, with Kebbi alone targeting 179,542 children aged five to 15 months. Nigeria received one million doses in the first batch, including 846,200 doses from Gavi and 153,800 doses financed by the Federal Government, with plans for further scale-up.
Despite these reported gains, many Nigerians insist that resolving industrial disputes and restoring functional public hospitals must be prioritised to ensure policy achievements translate into improved health outcomes for citizens.
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