Prioritizing Nigeria’s Healthcare Needs through a Systematic Assessment: A Case Study of The Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), Nigeria
- AIOR Admin
- Sep 22
- 1 min read
Henry Omoregie Egharevba
National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Nigeria
Solving health problems from a communal perspective remains the most effective way to attain better health systems and indices in society. Nigeria and most other African countries, amidst dwindling health funding, exploding population, rising cost of living, and declining living standards, should be more disposed to adopting this approach because it allows wider access while addressing the issues of inequality, inequity, and discrimination. A population’s health needs are best addressed when there is a better understanding of the population and environmental demographics. This work aims to demonstrate the use of systematic health needs assessment in prioritizing health interventions in resource-limited settings like Nigeria using the Federal Capital Territory as a case study. The author applied profiling of population characteristics, health status, and local health determinant factors to identify priority health needs of the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. The result showed that the targeted population had poor health status and indices, such as health insurance coverage, available skilled personnel, neonatal and children under-five health mortality and morbidity rates, quality of life, and health-related injuries. Behavioural measures, health inequalities, local health determinant factors such as employment and work data and environmental hygiene, and national priorities were also considered. The study systematically assessed and discussed the priority health needs of the targeted population. Improving health access and promoting equity through mandatory health insurance, and a focus on reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child’s health were identified as priority health needs to improve the health of the population.
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