Non-communicable Diseases’ Patients Demand Release Of 2025 Funds

Patients living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Nigeria have called on the federal government to release and implement budgetary allocations for NCDs.

They warned that the continued delays are undermining the country’s commitment to Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Patient Advocacy Working Group (AWG) for NCDs Public Financing in Nigeria, comprising patients living with hypertension across the country, civil society organisations and health professionals made the demand during a press briefing in Abuja, marking the 2025 Universal Health Coverage Day.

Representing the patient community, Mrs. Ijeoma Joseph of Regima Community Care Foundation, noted that NCDs, such as hypertension, diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases, now pose one of the gravest threats to Nigeria’s human capital and economic development.

She noted that about one in three Nigerian adults lives with at least one NCD, yet fewer than 20 per cent have access to diagnosis and treatment.

She recalled that Nigeria’s 2019–2025 National Multisectoral Action Plan on NCDs set targets to increase diagnosis and treatment coverage to 80 per cent and reduce premature mortality by 25 per cent, but lamented that progress remains poor due to chronic underfunding.

Despite the growing burden, she disclosed that only about six per cent of the already inadequate health budget is allocated to NCDs, adding that nearly none of the activities captured in the 2025 NCD budget, such as the construction of cancer facilities and eye centres, medical outreaches for hypertension and diabetes screening, and training of health workers, have been implemented.

“This development defies the spirit of Universal Health Coverage which Nigeria joins the world to commemorate today.

“UHC is built on our collective understanding of social impacts on health. For many Nigerians, lack of adequate health education, household income, lack of access for early screening and high cost of medicines exacerbated by economic policies have combined impact on the incidence and management of chronic diseases.

“This vulnerability is what Nigeria and the rest of the world have agreed to protect against through the UHC Agenda,” she said.

Declaring that “the era of patient silence is over,” the General Secretary, Heath Sector Reform Coalition in Nigeria, Dr. Ndaeyo Iwot, called on the Federal Government to immediately release all NCD-related budget lines in the 2025 budget to enable prompt implementation by relevant agencies, stressing that allocations without releases are meaningless.

“Patients have been on the sideline for so long as policies and budget decisions are made on their behalf But the era of silence is over,” Iwot said.

The Vice President, Nigeria Cancer Society, Dr. Chi-Kadibia Ukoma,

urged the executive and legislative arms of government to ring-fence revenue from the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax for NCD prevention and control.

While commending the Senate and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, for supporting an increase in the SSB levy from N10 per litre to a more effective rate, he demanded  that at least 40 per cent of the revenue be dedicated to NCD interventions, including essential medicines, diagnostics and service delivery.

He also called for integration of NCD care into the country’s UHC framework, noting that about 70 per cent of health spending in the country is still out-of-pocket.

He urged the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to expand benefit packages to cover NCD screening, diagnosis and treatment, and to strengthen primary healthcare facilities to deliver basic NCD services.

“Now is the moment to convert political will into sustainable financing for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment”, he said.

The advocacy group appealed directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly to demonstrate decisive leadership by increasing NCD funding, creating a dedicated hypertension budget line, mandating the earmarking of SSB tax revenue, and ensuring comprehensive integration of NCD services