Abuja: Patients living with Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Nigeria have called on the Federal Government to urgently release and implement the 2025 national budget for NCDs to fulfil its Universal Health Coverage (UHC) commitments. The Patient Advocacy Working Group for NCDs Financing in Nigeria, comprising hypertension patients, civil society organisations, and health professional groups, made the call in Abuja during a media conference marking the 2025 UHC Day.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Mrs. Ijeoma Joseph of the Regima Community Care Foundation emphasized the need for the government to translate its commitment to health into concrete, life-saving action for people battling chronic illnesses. She highlighted that NCDs, including hypertension, diabetes, cancers, and chronic respiratory diseases, posed significant threats to Nigeria’s human capital and economic prosperity, with NCD patients in Nigeria bearing a large share of public health burdens.
Joseph pointed out that one-third of Nigeria
n adults lived with at least one NCD, yet fewer than 20 per cent had access to diagnosis and treatment. This reality contradicted national targets outlined in the 2019-2025 multisectoral plan, which aimed to expand diagnosis and treatment coverage to 80 per cent and reduce NCD-related mortality by 25 per cent. She noted that only six per cent of the insufficient health budget is allocated to NCDs.
Dr. Chi-Kadibia Ukoma, Vice President of the Nigeria Cancer Society, stated that nearly none of the activities budgeted for NCDs in 2025 had been executed, including constructing cancer centres, establishing eye clinics, conducting medical outreaches for hypertension and diabetes screening and treatment, and training health workers. He explained that poor health education, low household incomes, lack of access to early screening, and high medicine costs exacerbated economic pressures and increased the burden of chronic diseases among Nigerians.
Dr. Ndaeyo Iwot, General Secretary of the Health Sector Reform Coaliti
on, urged the government to prioritise and safeguard NCD funding, noting that allocations were meaningless without the release of funds to implementing agencies. He also urged both the Executive and the National Assembly to ring-fence the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax for specialised NCD interventions, suggesting that at least 40 per cent of SSB tax revenue should be dedicated to NCD prevention and control.
Mrs. Maimurna Barau, Founder of the Maimurna Hope Foundation for Cancer and Ostomy Care, stressed the importance of investing in Primary Health Care (PHC) to achieve UHC. She emphasized that PHC facilities must be adequately equipped and staffed to deliver basic NCD prevention and management, which accounted for up to 90 per cent of essential UHC interventions.
The group expressed readiness to collaborate with the government at all levels to realise the country’s UHC aspirations for NCD patients. It called on President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to demonstrate decisive leadership by incre
asing NCD funding and establishing a dedicated hypertension budget line, urging the government to mandate earmarked SSB tax revenue and ensure comprehensive integration of NCD services into the UHC framework.