Health
AfDB, Others Launch Investment Platform to Strengthen Primary Healthcare
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three multilateral development banks — the African Development Bank, European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), have joined with the World Health Organization (WHO) to launch the new Health Impact Investment Platform.
This is aimed at investing in and strengthening essential, climate and crisis-resilient primary healthcare services in low- and low-and-middle-income countries.
The platform, launched during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact being held in Paris, will make an initial €1.5 billion available to low- and low-and-middle-income countries in concessional loans and grants to expand the reach and scope of their primary healthcare services, especially for the most vulnerable and underserved populations and communities.
The banks and WHO are the platform’s founding members, with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) also considering joining this partnership in view to extending this initiative to Latin America and the Caribbean region.
WHO will act as the platform’s policy coordinator, responsible for ensuring the alignment of financing decisions with national health priorities and strategies.
The Platform’s secretariat will support governments in developing national health and prioritize primary healthcare investment plans. It will also aim to catalyse wider primary healthcare investments in support of government health strategies.
Speaking on this landmark development, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said the primary health care or PHC approach offers the most effective means to improve health and well-being, including through the delivery of essential health services to all people.
He noted that it is a driver of universal health coverage, one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. World leaders committed in 2015 to achieve access to essential healthcare services and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all people by 2030.
“Around 90 per cent of essential health services can be delivered through PHC – on the ground, in communities, via health professionals, doctors and nurses, in local clinics. The broad spectrum of services that PHC provides can promote health and prevent disease, avoid and delay the need for more costly secondary and tertiary services, and deliver rehabilitation,” said Dr Tedros.
“PHC serves as the ‘eyes and ears’ of a country’s health system, reaching to the very communities where people live. The new Health Impact Investment Platform will strengthen the development of such services, serving as an invaluable investment in the health of populations today and in the future.”
On his part, EIB President, Mr Werner Hoyer said the partner development banks were committed to supporting countries to strengthen their primary health care services, to both promote the health of their communities and protect against the impacts of future health emergencies.
“COVID-19 demonstrated the great human and economic suffering that can occur when we fail to invest in essential health services,” said Dr Hoyer. “Cooperation among multilateral development banks through the new Health Impact Investment Platform will ensure countries in need are better able to build resilient primary health care services that can withstand the shocks of future health crises and safeguard communities and economies for the future.
“We already proved that in earlier collaborations with the WHO. The platform will facilitate access to crucial international financing for the most vulnerable. It is a concrete deliverable of President Macron’s call to increase international financial solidarity with the Global South.”
Mr Muhammad Al Jasser, chairman of the Islamic Development Bank, said: “To achieve universal health coverage by 2030, development financial institutions and nations must prioritize investing more in health. The Islamic Development Bank is committed to working collaboratively to generate impactful results and ensure access to quality and affordable primary healthcare for all.”
“Our cooperation will help guide investments by national governments to strengthen primary health care and their overall health systems, increase universal health coverage and improve their ability to prepare for, prevent and respond to health emergencies.
“We will work with countries individually to identify gaps in national health systems, design interventions and investment strategies, find funding, implement projects and monitor their impact,” said Mr Akinwumi Adesina, the AfDB president.
Mr Ilan Goldfajn, President of the Inter-American Development Bank, said: “Good health and well-being are common goals that bind the world together. To achieve these goals, countries and institutions must collaborate. We are convinced that cooperation – not only between nations but also between governments and the private sector – is critical to achieving universal health coverage. Recognizing the global nature of this investment platform, we are already in discussions with other stakeholders to expand these efforts across Latin America and the Caribbean.
“We extend an open invitation to our partners to join this global investment platform.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO estimated that to reach the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, low- and low-and-middle-income countries needed to increase their health spending significantly and require an additional $371 billion annually combined by 2030.
This funding would allow populations to access health services, contribute to building new facilities and train and place health workers where they need to be. It has also been estimated that preparing for future pandemics will require investment in the order of $31.1 billion annually.
Approximately one-third of that total would have to come from international financing. The Health Impact Investment Platform’s catalytic financing is also designed to promote the mobilization and coordination of broader financing flows through national primary healthcare investment plans.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Efforts to entrench mandatory health insurance through the Ilera Eko Social Health Insurance Scheme in Lagos State have been stepped by the state government.
This was done with the formal investiture of the Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Health, Mrs Kemi Ogunyemi, as Enforcement Leads of the Lagos State Health Scheme Executive Order and ILERA EKO Champions.
The Commissioner described the recognition as both symbolic and strategic, noting that Lagos is deliberately shifting residents away from out-of-pocket healthcare spending to insurance-based financing.
“We have been battling with how to increase enrolment in ILERA EKO and change the culture of cash payment for healthcare. Insurance is a social safety net, and this mindset shift is non-negotiable,” he said.
He recalled that Lagos became the first state to domesticate the 2022 National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act through an Executive Order issued in July 2024, making health insurance mandatory. He stressed that the decision reflected the Governor’s strong commitment to healthcare financing reform, adding, “When Mr. Governor personally edits and re-edits a document, it shows how critical that issue is to the future of Lagosians.”
Mr Abayomi also warned against stigmatisation of insured patients, describing negative attitudes towards Ilera Eko enrolees as a major barrier to uptake. “If someone presents an Ilera Eko card and is treated as inferior, uptake will suffer. That must stop,” he said, pledging to prioritise insurance compliance during facility inspections. “The key question I will keep asking is: ‘Where is the Ilera Eko?’”
In her remarks, Mrs Ogunyemi, said the enforcement role goes beyond a title, stressing that the health insurance scheme is now law.
“This is about Universal Health Coverage and equitable access to quality healthcare for everyone in Lagos State,” she said, noting that ILERA EKO aligns with the state’s THEMES Plus Agenda.
She commended the Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA) for aggressive sensitisation efforts across the state, saying constant visibility was necessary to address persistent gaps in public knowledge. “People are still asking, ‘What is Ilera Eko?’ ‘Where do I enrol?’ Those questions tell us the work must continue,” she said.
She urged all directors and health officials to mainstream Ilera Eko promotion in every programme and engagement, emphasising that responsibility for health insurance advocacy does not rest with LASHMA alone. “When people come with medical bills, the first question should be: are you insured?” she said, adding that early enrolment remains critical as premiums rise over time.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of LASHMA, Ms Emmanuella Zamba, said the investiture marked a critical step in positioning leadership to drive enforcement of the Executive Order across the public service.
“What we are undertaking is pioneering in Nigeria. All eyes are on Lagos as we demonstrate how mandatory health insurance can work,” she said.
Ms Zamba disclosed that enforcement nominees across Ministries, Departments and Agencies have been trained, with a structure in place to ensure compliance beyond the health sector.
According to her, “This initiative cuts across the entire public service, particularly public-facing MDAs, in line with the provisions of the Executive Order.”
She explained that the formal designation of the Commissioner and the Special Adviser as Enforcement Leaders was meant to strengthen compliance, alongside the Head of Service, while also recognising their consistent advocacy for universal health coverage. “This decoration is to amplify their roles and appreciate the leadership they have shown,” she said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has transmitted 24 bills for consideration of the Senate which seeks to reduce the country’s over-bloated board memberships in the health sector.
The bills were conveyed alongside a letter addressed to President of Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and read at plenary on Tuesday, in line with Section 58(2) of the 1999 Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
President Tinubu said the proposed legislations followed a comprehensive review of existing health sector laws by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
He said the review, approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), was in collaboration with the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate.
According to the President, the bills aims at streamlining governance structures across health institutions by reducing over-bloated board memberships.
This, he said, would improve efficiency, effectiveness, and service delivery within the sector.
According to him, the proposed legislations cover a wide range of health institutions and regulatory bodies, including tertiary and teaching hospitals, specialty hospitals, professional councils, and regulatory agencies.
He said the bills transmitted to the Senate includes the National Hospital for Women and Children, Abuja, Federal Medical Centres, National Specialty Hospitals Management Board; Orthopaedic Hospitals Management Board
Others are the National Eye Centre, National Ear Care Centre, Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria; Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the National Blood Service Agency, among others.
The President also listed additional legislative proposals such as the Records Officers Registration and Digital Health Bill 2025 and the Federal College of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Bill 2025.
President Tinubu expressed confidence that the Senate would give the bills careful and judicious consideration in the interest of strengthening Nigeria’s health sector.
After the letter accompanying the bills was read, Senate President referred all the 24 bills to the Senate Committee on Rules and Business for further legislative action.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A new pan-African mental wellness campaign, the Africa Wellness Voices Initiative (AWVI), is set to launch this February, bringing together voices from across Africa to promote mental wellbeing, reduce stigma, and encourage supportive conversations around mental health.
Led by SereniMind, a mental health and wellness organization, AWVI will spotlight different African countries daily throughout February by sharing short wellness statements from individuals, organizations, youth leaders, and institutions.
Each daily feature will highlight local perspectives on mental wellbeing while reinforcing a shared continental message: mental health matters, it said in a statement shared with Business Post.
Mental health remains a critical but under-addressed issue across Africa. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), depression affects more than 66 million people in the African Region, while mental health services remain limited in many countries. Young people are particularly affected, facing stigma, lack of awareness, and barriers to accessing support.
AWVI said it aims to address these gaps through a unified, prevention-focused awareness campaign that leverages digital platforms to reach communities across borders. In addition to featured voices, members of the public are encouraged to participate by sharing short wellness videos on social media, fostering grassroots engagement and peer-to-peer support.
Speaking on the initiative, Mr Oyenuga Ridwan, Founder of SereniMind, said: “Across Africa, too many people suffer in silence when it comes to mental health. Africa Wellness Voices Initiative is about unity, bringing together Africans from different countries, ages, and backgrounds to normalize conversations around wellbeing and remind people that seeking support is a strength, not a weakness.”
The February campaign is expected to reach 15–25 African countries, feature 60–120 individuals and organizations, and generate over 500,000 digital impressions across platforms including Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok. The organizers hope to scale the initiative in future editions to include all 54 African countries.
AWVI says it aligns with broader continental and global priorities on health, youth empowerment, and wellbeing, contributing to conversations around preventive mental health, community resilience, and inclusive development.
Through technology, partnerships, and community engagement, SereniMind works to promote wellbeing and reduce stigma around mental health.
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