Advocacy and
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Three Months On, Gyartai PHC Still Lacks a Midwife
Every time a woman goes into labour in Gyartai, her family prepares for more than childbirth. They prepare for a risky home delivery or a journey to another community. Three months after residents demanded better maternal health services during a town hall meeting, Gyartai PHC still lacks a midwife, leaving safe delivery services out of […]
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COVID-19 Funding Built New Health Infrastructure. Will Nigeria Build on It or Lose It?
Oluwafolakemi Ajala (Guest writer) The arrival of COVID-19 in Nigeria in early 2020 exposed long-standing weaknesses in oxygen supply, diagnostics, surveillance, emergency response coordination and public health funding. In health facilities, access to medical oxygen was often inadequate and unreliable, and laboratory infrastructure was fragmented. Surveillance systems were under-resourced, and genomic sequencing capacity was limited, […]
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As Efforts Intensify to Contain Bundibugyo Ebola, Women Remain Most Vulnerable to Its Economic Impact
The escalating Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak has sparked renewed international concern after French health authorities confirmed an imported case in a doctor returning from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on June 23. While the case marks the outbreak’s reach beyond endemic countries, the patient was immediately isolated, and contact tracing was initiated. The patient […]
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An Epidemic of Parastatals in Nigeria’s Health Sector
Over the past few months, several bills proposing new parastatals in Nigeria’s health sector have been introduced, creating considerable confusion across the sector. It is unclear what is driving these proposals or where the pressure for additional parastatals is coming from. There appears to be no demand from health professionals...
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From Innovation to Integration: What It Will Take to Make Every Pregnancy Safer in Nigeria
Nigeria accounts for 28.7% of all maternal deaths globally, representing more than a quarter of all maternal deaths. This means that for every three women who die from pregnancy-related causes, one is a Nigerian. Most maternal deaths are preventable, yet they persist because evidence-based care is still not reaching women...
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Community Feedback Prompts PHC Upgrade in Gauraka, Niger State
Hajara Sambo Months after Gauraka Model Clinic was discussed for the potential risks it poses for pregnant women, signs of improvement are finally emerging. Earlier in 2025, Community Health Watch findings revealed that Gauraka Model Clinic in Niger State, which is a Level 2 Primary Health Centre (PHC) and Basic...
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Why Zambia is Rethinking Tuberculosis Testing, and Why Validation Must Come First
Inside a small laboratory at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, a technician splits a sputum sample in two. Half goes into a GeneXpert machine, the workhorse of tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis in Zambia. The other half goes into a near-point-of-care molecular device, small enough to sit...
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From Autonomy to Accountability: Can Local Governments Deliver Better Primary Health Care in Nigeria?
About 70%of Nigerians depend on primary health care (PHC) centres for healthcare. For most people, this centre is the most frequent point of contact with any government service. The local government chairman is supposed to run it, fund it, and is responsible when it fails. The Supreme Court’s July 2024...
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In Kaduna Communities, Tailors Are Bridging the Family Planning Trust Gap
Hadiza Mohammed and Onyedikachi Ewe (Lead writers) In Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Salma Musa recalls when many women around her rarely spoke openly about family planning. For some, the topic was sensitive. For others, it was surrounded by fear, misinformation and uncertainty about what family planning really...
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Ekiti State Deploys Digital Solutions and Sustainable Financing to Expand Maternal Health Access
Maureen Moneke (Lead Writer) Maternal health remains one of the most critical indicators of a functioning health system. In Nigeria, pregnancy often unfolds within a fragile health system; therefore, digital health solutions can go a long way to bridge these gaps, but their success depends on whether they respond to...
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Trust Returns to Gurjiya PHC After Solar Battery Theft Resolution, Yet Accountability Concerns Persist
Rahima Shehu Dokaji After residents lamented the theft of a newly installed solar battery at Gurjiya Primary Health Care (PHC) in a town hall meeting in January, community members have returned to another town hall meeting held in April to ask a new question: Can a health facility experiencing growing...
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How Antibiotic Abuse Fuel Deaths in Ghana: Pharmacies and street hawkers aid prescription disaster
Emmanuel K. Dogbevi Kofi, 38, married with three children, works as a commercial minibus driver known in Ghana as ‘tro-tro’. He plies along the Accra–Kaneshie route in the Greater Accra region. One morning he woke up complaining of fever, chills, and general body weakness. When he consulted a physician at...
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Beyond the Counter: How CareHub Is Linking Pharmacy Customers to Primary Health Care in Lagos
School was on a long break when Temilola visited her uncle, Bayo, in Lagos State. A few days in, she began to complain of severe stomach pain. At first, Bayo did not think much of it. “She just kept saying her stomach was hurting,” he said, “So, I thought maybe...
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Beyond Genotype Awareness: Nigeria Must Build a Sickle Cell Response That Serves Warriors
Modupe Babawale (Guest writer) Every year on June 19, Nigeria joins the global community to observe World Sickle Cell Day. The 2026 theme, “Closing the Survival Gap: Equity in Sickle Cell Disease,” serves as an important reminder that Nigeria must now address the unequal access to diagnosis, medicines, blood, specialised...
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Three Months After Speaking Out, Indabo Residents Still Await Improved PHC Services
Hadiza Musa Three months after residents raised concerns about poor healthcare services during a town hall meeting, many of the same challenges continue to affect patients at Indabo Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Kano State. For residents like Zainab Alkasim, the challenges affect daily healthcare decisions and maternal health outcomes....
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Group CEO, Amref Health AfricaMSD for Mothers has collaborated with Nigeria Health Watch since 2018. What is most exciting about working with Nigeria Health Watch is their ability to connect the dots across public health actors and themes — linking the lived experiences of people with the healthcare workers delivering care, the health innovators designing solutions to bridge gaps, and governments at all levels that set standards of care, create enabling policy environments, and serve as the primary purchasers of healthcare through state insurance and contributory health schemes.
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Global Health Strategies Associate, KenyaNigeria Health Watch has done what few organisations achieve — they made citizen voices drive real policy change in Kano State. Their evidence-driven approach, combining community scorecards, town halls, and health storytelling, has transformed how we listen to citizens and respond to their needs. From deploying healthcare workers to increased enrollment of vulnerable people into health insurance, their community engagement model has delivered results that speak for themselves.