The government pledged to support the association through funding and protection, in exchange for the association's commitment to institutional discipline, professional respect, and restraint from strikes. The post FG reports health gains, urges NMA to lead fight against quackery appeared first on Premium Times Nigeria .
The federal government has urged the **Nigerian Medical Association **(NMA) to strengthen professional accountability and take a leading role in the fight against quackery in the health sector.
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, made the call on Wednesday in Abuja at the NMA’s First Ordinary National Executive Council meeting of the new National Executive Committee for 2026.
The meeting, themed “Transforming Healthcare Practice in Nigeria: Building Trust, Accountability and Collaborative Excellence”, brought together medical practitioners, senior members of the profession, government officials and policymakers.
Health sector reforms
Mr Salako said the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, signed in December 2023, had recorded 84 per cent implementation, according to the 2025 Joint Annual Review.
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He said the health sector’s share of the national budget had risen to 5.2 per cent, while funding under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) increased from N131.5 billion in 2024 to N299 billion in 2026.
He said the increased investment had translated into improvements in primary healthcare delivery.
“More than 8,000 primary health care centres now receive direct facility financing, close to 4,000 PHCs have been upgraded, and monthly patient visits to Fund-supported facilities have risen from about 10 million in early 2024 to 45 million by mid-2025,” Mr Salako said.
He also highlighted gains under the Maternal Mortality Reduction Innovation Initiative, saying the 172 local government areas with the highest burden recorded a 17 per cent reduction in maternal deaths and a 12 per cent reduction in newborn deaths.
According to him, more than 48,000 women received free emergency obstetric care, while over 4,000 free caesarean sections were performed in National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) empanelled facilities.
He added that more than 4,700 women received free vesico-vaginal fistula repairs across 207 facilities.
On health insurance, Mr Salako said coverage had increased from about 16 million Nigerians in 2023 to more than 22 million.
Health workforce
Mr Salako said 37,000 health workers had been recruited into federal hospitals since 2024, while medical school quotas had been doubled to 10,000.
He added that N110 billion had been committed to upgrading 18 training institutions.
He also said a National Policy on Health Workforce Migration and a Diaspora Health Portal had been adopted.
Call for accountability
Mr Salako said the government was delivering on funding and policy, but patients ultimately judged the health system by their experiences with healthcare professionals.
He therefore urged the NMA to strengthen clinical governance, ensure accurate reporting of deaths and conclude disciplinary cases.
He also condemned absenteeism, the diversion of patients to private facilities and informal payments by healthcare workers.
“The government will never sacrifice public health on the altar of professional solidarity,” he said.
On quackery, Mr Salako described the practice as “homicide by instalment”.
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He also cited the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control’s (NAFDAC) removal of falsified drugs worth N1 trillion from Aba, Onitsha and Lagos.
Organ harvesting investigation
Mr Salako also announced an investigation into a viral report alleging the existence of an organ-harvesting syndicate in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, through its National Tertiary Health Institutions Standard Committee, had developed national standards and guidelines for organ and tissue transplantation.
According to him, the guidelines require informed consent and prohibit the commercialisation of organ and tissue transplantation.
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