Women Are Transforming the Global Health Workforce, But Not Yet Its Leadership
In Wammako, a Local Government Area (LGA) in Sokoto, Nigeria, Asma’u Shehu, a community health worker, does more than provide care. People in the community see her as a medic, teacher, counsellor and mobiliser who builds trust for the formal health care system. However, despite women like Asmau’s strong presence and their close relationships with […]
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Nigeria’s COVID-19 Investments Created an Opportunity to Strengthen the Health Infrastructure. Will the Country Sustain the Gains?
A long terrazzo walkway from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH)’s administrative building leads to various parts of the ever-busy facility. Underneath the trees that line up the walkway are patients’ relatives near the wards and other buildings. Within the wards of this tertiary healthcare facility are functional medical equipment like defibrillators, infusion pumps, ECG monitors, […]
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Nigeria’s Malaria Burden Is Uneven: Why One-Size-Fits-All Interventions Fall Short
Nigeria’s malaria story is often told through the lens of the scale of the problem, because the country accounts for 24.3% of the global estimated malaria cases and 30.3% of the estimated deaths, as well as an estimated 54.6% of malaria cases in West Africa in 2024. Yet there is another story that is not […]
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How Furanni Is Helping Badiyya Make Healthier Choices During Pregnancy
Hadiza Musa For Badiyya Haruna, a mother of three from Kofar Kudu in Ghari Local Government Area (LGA) of Kano State, learning how to navigate pregnancy safely has gone beyond routine antenatal care. Through the Furanni programme, implemented by Nigeria Health Watch in collaboration with Five Cowries Art Education, she...
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Expanding Health Insurance Through Private Providers to Improve Maternal Health in Kaduna
Kaduna State, in the northwest part of Nigeria, is ramping up efforts to improve maternal and newborn survival as it struggles with a maternal mortality ratio of 452.6 deaths per 100,000 live births and a neonatal mortality rate of 63 deaths per 1,000 live births, through reforms aimed at strengthening...
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Health Hubs Across Lagos Are Combining In-Person and Virtual Care to Tackle Non-communicable Diseases in Maternal Health
In the heart of Balogun Market located in Lagos State, women gather at a health point to get their blood pressure and blood sugar level checked. This check, conducted by mDoc’s NudgeHub, provides community members with an opportunity to learn more about their health while offering routine health screenings that...
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Can Nigeria Take Ownership of Its HIV Funding and Response as Donor Funding Continues to Contract?
HIV funding in Nigeria was already under strain when HIV advocate Ivan Molina Aranibar opened a Global Fund satellite session at the International AIDS Conference 2026 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He spoke for people often missing from rooms where decisions are made about the HIV response. “My story doesn’t...
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Revitalised Amina Sambo PHC Restores Hope in Kinkinau
For mothers and children in Kinkinau, Kaduna South, the revitalisation of Amina Sambo Primary Health Centre (PHC) is changing the experience of seeking care. Once avoided because of poor conditions, foul smells and inadequate space, the facility is now attracting more patients, with attendance increasing by over 95% following the...
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Menstrual Health, School Attendance and the Girl Child
Miracle Adeniyi-Ogunjide, third-place winner of the Nigeria Health Watch 2026 Menstrual Hygiene Essay Competition, reflects on how pain, period poverty, poor school toilets and stigma can affect girls’ education. This student essay has been lightly edited for clarity and factual accuracy, while maintaining the writer’s original argument and voice. Menstruation...
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Nigeria’s Lenacapavir Rollout Needs a Safe Pharmacy Delivery Pathway
Nigeria has moved from planning to implementing lenacapavir. In March 2026, the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare introduced the twice-yearly HIV prevention medicine in seven states and the Federal Capital Territory. Nigeria is one of nine early-adopter countries and is expected to receive approximately 180,000 doses by 2028....
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Three Months Later, Alkalawa Community Continues to Seek PHC Improvements
Every three months after initial town hall meetings, communities have an opportunity to determine whether the promises made following a health facility assessment had translated into action. Three months after residents of Alkalawa community in Kano State assessed their Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) through a community town hall meeting scorecard...
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Nigeria’s State Health Insurance Schemes Are Expanding. Enrolment Must Now Lead to Care
In February 2026, residents of Gyartai in Ghari Local Government Area of Kano State gathered to demand that their health post be upgraded to a Level 2 primary health care facility. Built to serve about 500 people, the facility now serves more than 10,000. At the time of the meeting,...
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How Market Doctors Are Bringing Primary Care Closer to Traders in Lagos
At the entrance to Tejuosho Market in Yaba, Lagos, a woman known as Sisi Alagbo sells locally prepared herbal mixtures, or agbo, to traders seeking relief from fever, stomach pain, body aches and fatigue. For people trying to avoid losing a day’s income, the mixtures are familiar and immediately available....
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Weekend Closures Put Mende PHC Patients at Risk in Lagos
Weekend closures at Mende PHC continue to put patients at risk, forcing pregnant women in labour and other emergency cases to seek care elsewhere, often at great financial and personal cost. For many families in the Mende community in the Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State, access to healthcare...
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Nigeria Has a Lead Elimination Policy. Communities Need to See It Working
Lead poisoning from consumer products has gained renewed attention in Nigeria, following the launch of the National Policy and Action Plan on Lead Poisoning Elimination in 2025. People can be exposed to lead by inhaling contaminated air or dust, or ingesting contaminated soil, food or water. Informal battery recycling, e-waste...
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Nigeria Health Watch is a division of the Health Watch Foundation, a leading not for profit organisation dedicated to advancing health outcomes in Nigeria. The organisation combines deep expertise in health and strategic communications to drive evidence based advocacy, strengthen the capacity of health sector institutions, and influence policy for impact.
Our Vision
A well informed and empowered population advocating for improved health.
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To provide communities, organisations and governments with the tools and knowledge to make evidence-based decisions for better health outcomes.
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Nigeria Health Watch is a critical component of the work we do at the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention towards protecting the health of Nigerians. NHW continues to amplify the work being done at NCDC as well as nationwide towards strengthening health security and advancing healthcare in Nigeria. We are grateful for our partnership and your continued advocacy for improved funding for epidemic preparedness and especially support towards risk communications during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa
Former DG, Nigeria Centre for Disease ControlI have had the honour of working with Nigeria Health Watch for over 5 years and have witnessed the exponential growth and reach of the platform. As a health leader and cancer advocate, I value the importance of accurate data and information. With Nigeria Health Watch, I am always assured of.
Dr. Zainab Shinkafi-Bagudu
MD/CEO Medicaid Radio-Diagnostics & ClinicsNigeria Health Watch is a powerful voice for healthcare development in Africa. Through solutions-based journalism, creative storytelling, and policy advocacy, they continue to transform the way healthcare is reported, discussed, and perceived by everyone, particularly policymakers. The energy and professionalism they bring to projects are unmatched and I can attest that they have closed a longstanding gap in health communications in Nigeria.
Dr. Oyebanji Filani
Commissioner, Health & Human Services Ekiti State at Government of Ekiti StateReliable information is essential to improving health care, and Nigeria Health Watch plays a key role in delivering it. Through surveys, analysis, field reporting, and solutions-based journalism, it consistently produces insights grounded in everyday realities that inform improvements in health services and outcomes. All of this is driven by its skilled and innovative team, whose work is increasingly recognised across the continent and beyond
Dickens Olewe
Program Officer, Gates FoundationOur partnership with Nigeria Health Watch has been instrumental in advancing Africa’s voice in global public health discourse. Through strategic collaboration on platforms such as the Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) and across digital media, they bring a distinctive strength in translating complex health challenges into compelling, human-centered narratives that drive both engagement and action
Dr Githinji Gitahi
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.
Iyadunni Olubode
Lead of Kenya & Nigeria Programs, MSD for MothersWorking with Nigeria Health Watch has been an absolute pleasure. Across two consecutive conferences, their team has demonstrated exceptional professionalism, genuine passion, and a tireless commitment to going above and beyond. They made every aspect of our partnership seamless and stress-free. Their dedication to delivering impactful, high-quality coverage speaks for itself, and I look forward to continuing this partnership at many more conferences to come
Winnie Kariuki
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.
Dr Abubakar Labaran Yusuf
Commissioner for Health, Kano StateWillow Health Media Initiative has built a strong partnership with Nigeria Health Watch, marked by professionalism, effective coordination, and stakeholder engagement. In 2025, we collaborated to convene a webinar and hybrid roundtable in Kenya on Africa’s health financing landscape, bringing together diverse stakeholders across the continent. Nigeria Health Watch’s ability to convene influential voices added immense value to advancing critical conversations on sustainable health financing and health system strengthening in Africa.
Dr. Mercy Korir
Co-Founder, CEO & Editor-In-Chief, Willow Health Media InitiativeI have worked with Nigeria Health Watch as our in-country partner for the malaria sub-national tailoring Exemplars project. They have impressed me with their ability to learn quickly, to collaborate, to innovate, and to deliver high quality work on time. I have also learned from them the value of structured advocacy in supporting Nigeria to develop evidence-informed malaria strategies
Professor Abdisalan Noor
Executive Director, AHADI, Visiting Professor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthThrough the years of partnership and as part of Nigeria Health Watch's pioneering journey, I experienced Nigeria Health Watch work with communities, thought leaders, policy makers, and health development actors within the private and public sector as advocates for stronger, well-resourced health systems and actionable health policies. To achieve this, Nigeria Health Watch continues to ensure citizens voices are amplified through evidence informed story-telling while providing a platform for dialogue, research and sharing innovative ideas that help improve health outcomes in Nigeria and on the African continent
Nanlop Ogbureke
Executive Director, Resolve to Save Lives in NigeriaNigeria Health Watch brings a refreshing look and attitude to health communication, strategic storytelling, and advocacy. With a strong online presence, Nigeria Health Watch acts as a bridge between policies and community awareness and engagement through thought leadership