Experts Warn Nigeria’s Health Surveillance System Now ‘Vulnerable’

Health experts and government officials have raised fresh concerns over the fragility of Nigeria’s disease detection and surveillance systems, warning that declining donor funding was exposing deep structural weaknesses across the country.

The concerns were highlighted on Wednesday in Abuja at the formal presentation of ‘A System in Transition: Nigeria Country Report’, a landscape assessment presented by Resolve to Save Lives, on the state of the country’s public health surveillance, laboratory, and specimen transport systems.

Delivering a keynote address, the Executive Director of Resolve to Save Lives Nigeria, Nanlop Ogbureke, described the report as a critical reflection point for the country’s public health system. “This report is not simply a diagnostic exercise. It is a mirror held up to Nigeria’s health security system at a defining moment,” she said.

The report warned that Nigeria’s surveillance, laboratory, and specimen transport systems were coming under increasing strain as funding disruptions expose longstanding weaknesses in the country’s public health architecture. It said heavy reliance on donor funding has created fragmented systems that are now proving difficult to sustain.

“Systems that rely heavily on parallel funding streams and disease-specific architectures are inherently fragile. When funding shifts, the cracks widen,” Ogbureke added.

Also, speaking at the event, Dr. Jeremiah Daiko, State Epidemiologist in Kaduna State, emphasised the urgency of domestic investment, particularly at the subnational level where outbreaks are first detected and managed.
“Strengthening our health system in Nigeria has become a priority. For us to survive and strengthen it, we really need funding,” he said.

“This programme is coming at a good time, when donor funding has decreased significantly. So we need to look inward to see how our state and government can support surveillance, laboratory services, outbreak response, and other critical areas.”

Daiko described the initiative as timely and beneficial, especially for states grappling with reduced external support.

“It is a very good programme for us at the subnational level,” he added.

Findings from the report showed that funding disruptions were already affecting surveillance coverage, laboratory turnaround times, workforce stability, and overall system readiness across the country.

Despite these challenges, experts maintain that Nigeria has the foundational capacity to build a more resilient and integrated health system.

“Nigeria already has the building blocks of a resilient health system. The challenge is not capacity, but coordination and integration,” the keynote address noted.

The report identified current funding opportunities and ongoing reforms as a critical window for Nigeria to reposition its health system toward sustainability and national ownership.

“Decisions made now will determine whether Nigeria’s systems continue to fragment or are deliberately consolidated for the future,” the report warns.

Stakeholders at the event called for urgent, coordinated action to strengthen domestic financing, integrate health systems, and improve preparedness for future public health threats.