By Reportcircle Abuja
Calabar became the epicentre of Nigeria’s health policy revolution as the nation’s most powerful health decision-making body, the National Council on Health (NCH), stormed the Calabar International Convention Centre for its 66th session, delivering what analysts are calling one of the most ambitious reform blueprints in a decade.
From 17–21 November 2025, health leaders representing every corner of the federation converged to debate, dissect and redesign the future of healthcare delivery in Africa’s most populous nation.
Mandated by the National Health Act (2014), the NCH sits at the apex of health governance in Nigeria, and this year’s session, chaired by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate CON was a decisive test of political will.
The theme, “My Health, My Right: Accelerating Universal Health Coverage through Equity, Resilience, and Innovation,” set the tone for a week powered by urgency, data and a renewed push for equity.
The Council zeroed in on two frontline battles: sustainable health financing and health workforce retention, issues that have crippled system performance for years.
The crowd was overwhelming. 1,243 delegates from federal and state health ministries, the FCT, State Houses of Assembly, regulatory bodies, professional associations, civil society and security medical corps filled the convention halls. Global partners, including the World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Bank, lent their weight to the discussions.
Before the political fireworks came the technical grind. A two-day preliminary session chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Daju Kachollom S., mni, tore into 92 memoranda, 47 from the Coordinating Minister, 44 from State Commissioners and the FCT, and one from the Department of State Services.
The sessions featured presentations from UNFPA and UNICEF spotlighting maternal and neonatal mortality and Nigeria’s crushing health and nutrition burden.
The Council formally opened on 20 November, with goodwill messages from WHO, the Health Development Partners Group, UNFPA and the Civil Society Organizations.
Cross River State’s Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, rallied the audience with a welcome address, followed by strategic remarks from the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Iziaq Adekunle Salako.
Prof. Pate delivered the keynote, laying out a no-nonsense case for acceleration, accountability and innovation before Cross River’s Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Peter Odey, PhD, declared the Council open on behalf of Governor Bassey Otu.
The ceremony climaxed with a symbolic handover of medical equipment and vehicles to Cross River State by WHO.
In a sobering review, the Ministry presented the implementation scorecard for the 65th NCH resolutions.
A handful of states FCT, Sokoto, Taraba, Ekiti, Delta, Anambra and Plateau earned top marks across their geopolitical zones.
But the Council admitted what everyone already knew: overall implementation nationwide remained below average.
To change course, it ordered quarterly monitoring, tighter communication between Federal and State health ministries, and the direct transmission of the 66th NCH resolutions to all State Governors, an unprecedented move aimed at closing political gaps.
Four major new policy documents were launched, including the Knowledge Management Strategy (2026–2030) and the Nigerian Health Workforce Profile 2024.
After marathon deliberations, the Council approved 20 reform-heavy resolutions poised to reshape Nigeria’s health landscape. Among the most prominent:
Mandatory adoption of Standard Guidelines for State Councils on Health within 3 months.
Nationwide rollout of the 2025 Cervical Cancer Screening Guidelines within 6 months.
Launch of Nigeria’s first National Policy on Cosmetics Safety.
Adoption of sodium reduction, food handlers’ testing and chemical surveillance standards nationwide.
Lowering the age for voluntary HIV testing to 14, with strict safeguards.
Full domestic funding of the National Clinical Mentorship Programme.
Scale-up of emergency preparedness, including chemical event response.
Mandatory national training and recertification for mid-level health managers.
A new National Community CPR Initiative, expanding defibrillators and emergency responders in public spaces.
Installation of oxygen piping systems as a core requirement in all new hospitals.
Launch of the National Digital Health Architecture, with all states required to link into a national health data ecosystem.
Adoption of Larval Source Management as a core malaria vector strategy.
The resolutions are bold, the timelines tight, and the expectations steep, a clear signal that the Council intends to move from rhetoric to results.
With 35 Commissioners of Health and the FCT in attendance, the Council sealed its decisions and agreed that the 67th NCH will be hosted by Nasarawa State in 2026.
The communique was adopted, a motion for adjournment was moved and seconded, and the Chairman, Prof. Pate, formally closed what is now regarded as one of the most consequential NCH meetings in recent times.
As delegates streamed out of the Convention Centre, one thing was clear: The Calabar session did not just review Nigeria’s health system, it rewired it.
