By Martha Agas
The Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID) says its 2025 edition of the National Health Dialogue will spotlight the performance of the Primary Healthcare sector.
The Executive Director of CJID, Akintunde Babatunde, made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
Babatunde said the dialogue would particularly focus on how evidence, innovation, and sustainable financing can strengthen Nigeria’s health system, with specific attention to primary health-care performance, health accountability, and strategies for improving service delivery across states.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Health Dialogue, organised in partnership with Premium Times, will hold on Thursday in Abuja.
The event is supported by the Gates Foundation, alongside other national and international partners.
The dialogue aims to create a neutral space where policymakers, researchers, journalists, civil society groups, and development partners can assess evidence, identify gaps, and propose practical reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s health outcomes.
He said that the dialogue would represent the beginning of a wider national effort to strengthen health systems.
“Following this conversation, we will take these engagements to regions where there is clear evidence of declining health services, so we can work with stakeholders on practical steps to improve health outcomes across the country,” he said.
According to him, sessions at the dialogue will examine the performance of primary healthcare centres, the role of state actors in budget implementation, and the challenge of mobilising sustainable financing in a period of declining donor support.
“The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, will headline the event in a fireside discussion examining Nigeria’s reform priorities, the future of primary healthcare and the shifts required to improve outcomes nationwide.
“Several state commissioners of health will also participate in sessions on state-level financing plans and performance gaps,” he said.
He added that health innovations would be showcased at the event, featuring technology founders working in maternal health, digital care, and service-delivery monitoring.
On his part, the Managing Editor of Premium Times, Idris Akinbajo, emphasised the newsroom’s long-standing focus on health accountability.
Akinbajo said that over the years, Premium Times had led powerful investigations to ensure the health system in Nigeria was strengthened.
“This dialogue is our way of bringing the news from the pages of the newspaper to stakeholders, so we can jointly chart a new path to support sustainable health financing,” he said.
