Nigeria’s fight against HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria has been dealt a major blow with an 11 percent reduction in Global Fund allocation, dropping from $970 million to $860 million and creating a critical funding shortfall that lawmakers say must be filled through domestic resources.
The funding crisis emerged during the Nigeria Country Coordinating Mechanism’s 2025 Annual Retreat in Lagos, where health officials and parliamentarians called for urgent action to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign donors for critical health programmes.
First Vice-Chair of the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism for Nigeria, Ayob Ipinmoye, revealed the significant cut in international support, noting that “this creates a significant gap that we want the National Assembly to take on and appropriate funds to cover.”
The reduction comes at a time when recent U.S. government decisions to suspend support to African health systems have heightened concerns about Nigeria’s over-reliance on external funding for essential health interventions.
House Committee Chairman on HIV, TB, and Malaria Control, Amobi Godwin-Ogah, used the Lagos meeting to issue a stark warning about the country’s funding model, calling for “a shift from reliance on foreign donors to a more self-sufficient model.”
“Today, little did we know that the U.S. government would suspend their support to African health systems,” Ogah said, highlighting the vulnerability of depending on external aid for critical health services.
The lawmaker expressed particular frustration with transparency issues surrounding fund management, recalling past investigations where “some of these organisations did not have verifiable addresses while the entire process was met with a brick wall as they all kept passing the bulk.”
Ogah urged the Country Coordinating Mechanism to “open up their processes to the parliament, as many Nigerians view their operations and activities as that of a secret coven,” demanding that recipients of funds “must equally be made to account for every kobo received.”
The funding challenges come amid mixed progress in disease control efforts. While Ogah commended partnerships with TB stakeholders that have advanced the TB Anti-Discrimination Act 2025, he expressed disappointment with malaria and HIV programme managers, noting that “little or nothing had been done to address glaring inadequacies.”
Despite the reduced international support, health officials remain optimistic about new approaches to coordination. The Country Coordinating Mechanism, under the leadership of Health Minister Prof. Ali Pate, is implementing a “sector-wide approach” to maximise the benefit from available resources.
Director-General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS, Dr. Temitope Ilori, noted that the transition presents an opportunity for Nigeria to “own the national response and ensure appropriate budgetary allocation for the HIV response.”
The shift toward domestic ownership includes plans for local production of health commodities and enrolling people living with HIV in the National Health Insurance Scheme to reduce out-of-pocket expenses.
Ipinmoye reinforced the call for increased government investment, stating that “the Nigerian government should now take a stronger ownership of providing the resources for health in Nigeria.”
The Lagos meeting, themed “Partnering to Improve Health Systems Outcomes in an Evolving Global Health Financing Landscape,” brought together stakeholders to address the changing dynamics of international health funding and chart a path toward greater self-reliance.
As Nigeria grapples with persistent health challenges, parliamentary oversight is expected to intensify, with lawmakers pushing for representation on the CCM board to bridge communication gaps and ensure transparent use of remaining international funds while advocating for increased domestic allocations.
Follow the AkweyaTV channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va7m7dvJuyA7h5XMc22i
