Musa Mohammed Rabiu Kwankwaso

Health section

Our actions and programmes in the health sector will be guided by our philosophy of ‘Health is Wealth’;

We shall reform the health sector in its entirety to ensure professional accountability, quality of service, and professionalism;

Expand access to medical education and training to provide more professional personnel to serve our communities;

Improve sanitation and hygiene in public places. Provide the general framework for states and local government councils to develop the guidelines for sanitation inspectors;

Provide, in conjunction with states and local government councils, free natal and maternity healthcare services for families;

In conjunction with other levels of Care provisioning, our administration shall coordinate the provision of mobile clinics to access under-served communities across the country;

Upgrade and modernize all tertiary level hospitals in all states of the federation with a view to expanding access and improving quality of healthcare services;

Upgrade and equip all specialty hospitals to tackle the diseases that cause most death and disability in Nigeria, e.g. malaria, cancer, diabetes, renal diseases, tuberculosis, etc.;

Undertake comprehensive reform of medical and health education to create more opportunities and meet the manpower needs of the sector;

Review the Accident & Emergency Protocols in all hospitals to ensure that all health emergency cases are attended to promptly;

Promote exercise and sport through programmes and intervention support using specialized institutions;

Redirect health workers energy away from trade dispute to professional development and lifelong learning and improvement of skills;

Review the laws of all agencies, councils and such other bodies in the health sector to remove every impediment hampering the effective and efficient delivery of healthcare services including healthcare education;

Minimize health tourism through facility upgrade, services improvement, health workers training and technology transfer and acquisition;

Training of specialized healthcare professionals for local and international markets, e.g. nurses, midwifes, etc.;

Strengthen the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) with view to empowering it to identify and eliminate the spread of infectious/contagious diseases in the country;

Priority of health. Our administration shall identify health as a key priority in the first four years. The importance of health programmes, decent working opportunities and sustainable livelihoods and the development of rural areas shall be given prominence by the NNPP administration;

It shall be the priority of government to reinvigorate the health conditions in the rural areas to mitigate the current poor state of health.

Nigeria needs enhanced lifesaving services. The planning, production and management of health facilities, consumables and manpower at the national level shall be revised to abolish the lopsided distribution which favour urban centres leaving the poor vulnerable peasant in the cold;

More Primary Health Care facilities, well-equipped to handle common ailments as well as serve as a focus for health education, will be provided;

Our PHCs nationwide will be upgraded from mere referral centres to treatment and medication centres with all the essentials needed to run effectively;

We shall Invest in infrastructure and ensure that diagnostic, therapeutic apparatus and consumables are readily available in our hospitals;

Given the emergence of new zoonotic diseases and the reemergence of some eliminated diseases, the one health approach which puts into consideration the human, the animal and the environment will be adopted by our administration. The health of the environment and that of the animals will also be improved in order for the citizens to be healthy;

The issue of drug production, transportation, storage, distribution and procurement will be enhanced. The fact that most patients in Nigeria pay for their medications out of pocket, on a background of poorly coordinated Drug distribution and unauthorized retailing is devastating. This makes the drugs largely unaffordable and forcing many patients into procuring poor quality and counterfeit medicines. Other Nigerians opt for the poorly regulated traditional medicines which may end up compounding their conditions. To lessen this burden, modalities that will reduce out of pocket payment such as insurance will be encouraged and promoted. Drugs, especially essential ones should be readily available and affordable through Drug revolving and similar schemes;

Traditional/alternative medicine system will be regulated and incorporated into the orthodox system in order to sanitise it further;

Essential national health researches on local health issues will be encouraged. This will provide information and input into decision making as to choice of cost effective and efficient health interventions for the people;

Vaccines have since been proven to be effective and cheaper means of disease control. Immunization and Vaccines Development will also be encouraged by the RMK administration;

Our administration shall specify the targets expected of key health indicators which shall be in line with global standards. At the onset of every year, the Government shall commit to pre-stated expected level of achievements in areas such as targets to reduce drug abuse, maternal and child mortality, combat of HIV and AIDS, and reduction in the burden of disease from Tuberculosis. Increasing the overall level of Nigerian life expectancy shall be the overall driver of RMK’s Agenda in the health sector; III. Reform of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS

Reform of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS • Against the current loss of confidence by Nigerians in the NHIS, our administration shall subject the NHIS to a comprehensive reforms;

The NHIS shall be refocused to improve the health delivery and access to healthcare by households, especially in rural communities;

It shall be the priority of Government, come 2023, to ensure that every Nigerian child is covered under the NHIS. Adequate healthcare shall be made compulsory for every Nigerian child;

It shall be the cardinal objective of RMK to undertake a radical revitalization of Nigerian health infrastructure. The focus of this Agenda is the acquisition, installation, and effective manning of critical medical equipment;

It is the drive of the RMK administration to be one of the first Governments in Africa to install and build capacity in PET – CT 52 | P a g e Scan Machines and equipment that are used in the diagnosis of diseases such as Cancer, diabetes, heart diseases, etc.;

Introduction and promotion of Biomedical Engineering • Biomedical engineering is central to improving the quality of health delivery, especially in developing countries such as Nigeria. In order to actualize RMK’s Agenda of improving healthcare infrastructure, our administration shall increase awareness in biomedical engineering and allied applied medical sciences. Target scholarship programmes shall form part of the sustenance and delivery objective of this Agenda;

Our administration shall pursue a deliberate policy that would promote international cooperation and internships targeted at building and retaining local capacity in biomedical engineering. We intend to make Nigeria a hub for biomedical engineering in Africa;

Our administration shall pursue a stable national drug policy that is comparable to best practices across the globe. Priority shall be given to a war against fake drugs, illicit drugs, and counterfeit drugs etc. International partnerships shall be pursued with vigour to tame the ugly incidence of importation of fake and/or sub –standard drugs into Nigeria;

It shall be the cardinal objective of Government to optimize cooperation between Pharmacists, doctors, and other allied medical personnel and resource persons;

Our administration shall strike the desired balance between conventional medicine and herbal medical practices – 53 | P a g e competitive standards shall be put in place to maintain good standards;

NNPP administration shall pursue a healthcare delivery system that is driven by ICT. It shall pursue a healthcare system that is founded on credible and efficient information management system. Robust medical archives shall be maintained to facilitate effective referrals, research and medical profiling;

We shall emphasize improved human resource planning in the provision of healthcare weaved around sound and reliable management;

Maintenance of the highest ethical standards and highest level of technical competence shall be a priority in Nigerian healthcare delivery system. Healthcare system in Nigeria shall once again, become affordable, credible and reliable;

Today, donors and international agencies’ interventions in Nigeria’s health sector is opaque. There is no reliable evidence that the research endeavours for which huge resources had been committed are controlled and adequately monitored in terms of outcomes – our administration shall change the current gloomy fortune of Nigeria’s healthcare sector for the better. Universities, Research Institutes, and Teaching Hospitals shall be strongly supported to come out with 54 | P a g e ground-breaking research results, especially in health areas that are peculiar to Nigerian situation;

All completed researches with reports and findings kept gatherings dusts on the shelves in our research centres and libraries will be dusted and translated into actionable projects/programs for the benefit of humanity;

Academics and professionals in health and allied sectors shall be put to task and made to work for the common objective of achieving national development and growth through research and innovations;

The administration of RMK shall correct the current situation of poor funding of national healthcare. It shall be the cardinal objective of Government to increase the budgetary allocation to the health sector to match the best world example. States within the Nigerian federation shall be encouraged to replicate this objective in their various fiscal operations. However, increased budgetary allocation shall be complemented by effective health expenditure tracking system;

Today, healthcare delivery is done on an ad-hoc basis. Little of pre-epidemic planning is done due to absence of Healthcare Mapping. Hence, disease outbreaks always come as a surprise. In some instances, non-preparation to contain diseases lead to high levels of mortality. In other instances,over preparation results in massive wastes, inefficiency and corruption;

To ensure comprehensive attention to diseases and all healthcare challenges in Nigeria, our administration shall identify healthcare challenges that are peculiar or prevalent in each geographical location of Nigeria;

We shall introduce the concept of Health Agents who shall undertake surveys and catalogue diseases according to their rate of prevalence across the entire Nigerian nation. Hence, healthcare delivery programmes and projects shall derive from this map in a manner that is comprehensive, effective and efficient;

Questions to ask Musa Mohammed Rabiu Kwankwaso

1. Which specific laws, agencies, or regulations in the health sector do you plan to review or repeal first, and what criteria will you use to decide these priorities?
2. How will free natal and maternity healthcare be financed, and what is the projected annual cost and funding source (federal budget line, NHIS, or subnational co-funding)?
3. By what date will the framework for sanitation inspectors be issued, and when are states and LGAs expected to adopt and fund their guidelines?
4. What numeric targets and baselines will you set for reducing maternal mortality, under‑5 mortality, TB burden, HIV incidence, and drug abuse, and how often will progress be publicly reported?
5. How many mobile clinics will be deployed, in which states, with what staffing model and service package, and how will maintenance and fuel be budgeted?
6. You propose upgrading all tertiary hospitals in every state—what is the phased plan (which facilities first), required equipment lists, and the estimated total and per‑facility cost?
7. Which ministry or agency will be responsible for hospital upgrades and equipment procurement, and what anti‑corruption and competitive procurement safeguards will you adopt?
8. Who will lead the ‘Health Agents’ mapping initiative, what data standards and privacy safeguards will apply, and how will results be used to allocate budgets across states and LGAs?
9. What is the plan to regulate and integrate traditional/alternative medicine—what evidence, safety, and quality standards will be required before integration into public facilities?
10. For an ICT‑driven healthcare system and medical archives, will you adopt a national electronic medical records standard, how will facilities be connected, and what is the multi‑year costed rollout plan?
11. How will you coordinate NAFDAC, Customs, Police, and international partners to reduce fake and sub‑standard drugs, and what annual seizure or market‑quality targets will you publish?
12. What is the staffing and recurrent funding plan (power, water, consumables) to ensure upgraded PHCs operate 24/7, and how many PHCs will be built or upgraded each year by state?