Abuja: Dr. Gidado Mustapha, Executive Director of KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation in the Netherlands, has raised concerns over Nigeria’s heavy dependence on imported diagnostic tools and laboratory supplies, which he believes is undermining the nation’s health system and leaving it susceptible to global disruptions. Mustapha articulated these points during a lecture at the National Summit on Diagnostics in Abuja, where he addressed the theme ‘Fragmentation to Integration: Building a Partnership-Driven Diagnostic Ecosystem for Nigeria’s Health System and Quality of Care’.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, Mustapha emphasized that many African nations, including Nigeria, are vulnerable due to their reliance on imported diagnostics tools and technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic, he noted, highlighted weaknesses in global supply chains and stressed the necessity for a robust local manufacturing capacity. He pointed out that a reliance on the international importation of diagnostic tools, including reagents, poses a significant challenge across African countries, making them susceptible to even minimal disruptions in the global system.
Mustapha further cited global studies indicating that nearly half of the world’s population lacks access to quality laboratory services, with the situation worsening in low and middle-income countries. He highlighted additional challenges faced by Nigeria, such as fragmented laboratory networks and weak integration across disease programmes, which often operate independently and lead to inefficiencies.
The summit also saw Mustapha advocating for the integration of diagnostic services across disease programmes to enhance healthcare delivery, noting the importance of coordinated efforts rather than fragmented approaches. He acknowledged Nigeria’s progress in expanding laboratory infrastructure, attributing much of this growth to donor support and investments in molecular testing platforms.
Despite these advancements, Mustapha warned that infrastructure expansion alone is insufficient for transforming healthcare without the backing of strong governance systems. He called for a focus on governance structures, skilled workforce development, quality assurance systems, and integrated data platforms to ensure functional laboratory networks.
Mustapha also urged for the expansion of diagnostic services at the primary healthcare level to facilitate early disease detection. He highlighted the importance of decentralizing diagnostics to communities while maintaining quality standards, emphasizing the necessity of scaling up local manufacturing of diagnostic consumables and enhancing equipment maintenance capacity.
In her remarks, Ms. Daju Kachollom, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, underscored the centrality of diagnostics in effective healthcare delivery. Represented by Dr. Abisola Adegoke, Kachollom noted the summit’s significance in the context of Nigeria’s ongoing health sector reforms and acknowledged that more than 70% of medical decisions globally rely on diagnostic results.
Kachollom affirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s diagnostic ecosystem as part of President Bola Tinubu’s health sector reform agenda. She emphasized the need for stronger partnerships across various sectors to address existing challenges and reiterated the government’s resolve to improve laboratory networks and quality assurance systems.
The summit is expected to yield actionable recommendations to advance integrated diagnostics and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage in Nigeria.