FG Recommits To Improved Welfare for Community Health Workers
Vice President Shettima Reaffirms Commitment to Community Health Workers
ABUJA — Vice President Kashim Shettima has reiterated the Nigerian government’s dedication to securing the legal rights, regular salaries, and enhanced welfare for community health workers across the country. His remarks came during the launch of the Community Health Programme Continental Acceleration Plan for 2026–2030 at the Continental High-Level Forum on a Fit-for-Purpose Health Workforce on Thursday.
In a statement issued by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Shettima emphasized the essential role community health workers play in the health system, including identifying maternal health risks, locating unvaccinated children, collecting household data, and detecting disease outbreaks.
“We cannot afford to neglect community health workers,” Shettima stated. “Their contributions are invaluable, especially as the number of community health workers continues to rise across Africa. However, we must also recognize the challenges that threaten this progress.”
He expressed that the newly announced Community Health Programme focuses on governance, primary care integration, workforce development, digital systems, service delivery, financing, supplies, and accountability to ensure a robust healthcare future. “Our objective is to guarantee legal recognition, dependable salaries, supervision, and career development for health workers,” he added.
Shettima underscored the critical connection between healthcare accessibility and survival, advocating for increased government efforts to enhance healthcare services, particularly in underserved regions. He highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s leadership in advancing health reforms as the African Union Champion for Human Resources for Health and the Community Health Delivery Partnership.
During his address, Shettima reminded attendees of Nigeria’s commitments under the 2001 Abuja Declaration, which called for African nations to allocate at least 15% of their national budgets to health. He noted significant gaps still exist in access to healthcare for many households across Nigeria.
The Vice President acknowledged collaborations with development partners, such as the African Union Commission, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in promoting the initiative.
Shettima asserted that community health workers are crucial for responding effectively to health crises and that their roles must be adequately supported. He cautioned that reduced external financing could hinder community health delivery, with many Member States relying heavily on donor support.
Currently, Nigeria’s community health workforce is significantly below the estimated 315,000 workers needed by 2030, according to Shettima. He noted that the Tinubu administration’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative has attracted more than $2.2 billion in commitments aimed at revitalizing over 17,000 primary healthcare centers and training 120,000 frontline workers. The goal is to deploy 100,000 salaried community health workers by 2027.
Shettima outlined the financial requirements of the Continental Acceleration Plan, which estimates a need for approximately $28 billion by 2030 to enhance health worker capacity, ensure medical supply reliability, and promote community involvement. He emphasized that benefits from such investments would be realized through healthier communities and lives saved, contingent upon sustained financing and national ownership of the program.
Earlier in the meeting, Dr. Iziaq Kunle Salako, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, praised President Tinubu for Nigeria’s hosting of the forum and advocated for the acceleration plan to align with the continent’s target of deploying two million community health workers by 2030.
Egypt’s Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Abla Al-Alfi, and Dr. Raji Tajudeen, Deputy Director-General of Africa CDC, also shared insights on the importance of strengthening primary healthcare systems and urged greater support for community health workers in addressing maternal and family health outcomes across the continent.
The discussions underscored a shared commitment among African leaders to bolster community health services significantly by 2030.
