NPHCDA expands PHC services, targets zero-dose children in Nigeria

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has outlined key reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s primary healthcare system, expand immunisation coverage, and reach zero-dose children nationwide.

Dr Muyi Aina, Executive Director and CEO of the NPHCDA, announced the reforms on Tuesday during the agency’s quarterly media briefing in Abuja.

Aina highlighted ongoing efforts to reduce preventable maternal and newborn deaths, improve PHC functionality, and expand digital health systems.

He said the goal was to ensure at least 17,600 fully functional primary health centres (PHCs) out of more than 30,000 across the country.

“These centres must be equipped, staffed, and capable of delivering essential services, especially for women and children,” he said.

To reduce operational bottlenecks, he noted that the Federal Government had expanded the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), allowing PHCs to receive quarterly funding directly.

“Low-volume facilities now receive N600,000 per quarter, while high-volume centres receive N800,000.

“A full list of beneficiary PHCs will be published by Jan. 2026 to promote transparency.”

Aina said Nigeria had an estimated 2.1 million zero-dose children, those who had not received any vaccine by their first birthday.

To address this, the agency introduced the Identify, Enumerate, Vaccinate (IEV) strategy.

He said between July 2024 and Oct. 2025, more than 500,000 zero-dose children were reached through house-to-house mobilisation and targeted campaigns.

He added that integrated campaigns now delivered multiple interventions, polio, measles, HPV, and malaria prevention, to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

“The agency is also rolling out digital health records, real-time PHC dashboards, and multilingual e-learning platforms in English, Pidgin, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.

“An electronic financial management system is being deployed to strengthen accountability.

“So far, more than 70,000 frontline health workers have been trained, and 27,000 community-based workers recruited, with states signing MOUs to absorb them permanently.”

During the briefing, Aina addressed issues related to maternal mortality, immunisation gaps, diphtheria outbreaks, hard-to-reach populations, financial transparency, and HPV vaccination.

Responding to claims of 20,000 maternal and newborn deaths in 2025, he said he was unsure of the data source but acknowledged the scale of preventable deaths.

“What I can agree with is that we’ve had too many unjustified deaths.

“That is why the President prioritised reducing maternal and newborn mortality under the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative,” he said.

He explained that direct PHC funding, community health worker recruitment, home visits, and the MAMI intervention all targeted the main drivers of maternal and child deaths, including vaccine-preventable diseases.

According to him, PHC services are also being expanded to cover mental health and non-communicable diseases.

Addressing Nigeria’s ongoing diphtheria outbreaks, 8,000 cases and 800 deaths, Aina cited the 2023 NDHS survey showing Penta-3 coverage at 53 per cent.

“If 53 per cent received the vaccine, 47 per cent did not. They are susceptible, which explains ongoing outbreaks,” he said.

While the Federal Government procured vaccines, he stressed that states and local governments were responsible for delivering them, urging the media to hold subnational governments accountable.

He described hard-to-reach areas as riverine, mountainous, remote, poorly connected, or insecurity-prone locations.

“These areas often overlap with zero-dose communities and maternal mortality hotspots.”

Under the IEV framework, he said the agency had identified 7.4 million residents across priority states.

Aina also discussed the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, which he said ensured unified planning and coordinated budgeting among federal, state, and partner agencies, minimising overlap and waste.

Providing clarification on the BHCPF, he said 8,309 PHCs currently benefited from the fund, and 13,512 facilities would be included by year-end after verification.

He added that another 5,212 facilities were being cleared for qualification.

Revitalisation, he said, considered building integrity, staffing, equipment, power supply, and medicine availability.

“If you equip a centre without health workers, it will be abandoned. If you put equipment in a building without a door, it will be looted.

“Performance and financial management officers now visit PHCs monthly, and a digital financial management app has been launched.

“An MOU with security and anti-corruption agencies also supports accountability. Facilities must account for previous funds before receiving new disbursements,” he said.

Aina said that the HPV vaccination programme had reached more than 15 million girls aged 9–14, surpassing the initial target of 13 million.

He said the campaign continued as new cohorts became eligible.

Citing NDHS data, he said 172 LGAs across 33 states accounted for more than half of maternal deaths.

He also said that the MAMI intervention had expanded to nearly all states.

On zero-dose children, he stressed: “These are not ghosts. They are children. We know where they are, we know their mothers, and we are removing barriers one by one.”

He reaffirmed the NPHCDA’s commitment to strengthening primary healthcare, improving immunisation uptake, expanding digital systems, and ensuring accountability at all levels.

Transparency, community trust, and media collaboration, he said, remained central to Nigeria’s health transformation agenda.