Welcome to the official June roundup from our Hospital Improvement Newsletter; your monthly trusted source for the most critical healthcare updates, innovations, and trends impacting hospitals and healthcare delivery in Nigeria.
This month, we’ve handpicked 30 essential stories that highlight pressing challenges, major reforms, equipment and device updates, and innovations reshaping Nigeria’s healthcare landscape.
These were selected to help you stay informed and prepared as a healthcare leader.
🩺 Full List of Curated Healthcare Stories
- Experts Raise Alarm as Over 75% of Nigerians Pay Out-of-Pocket for Healthcare
At the Impact Healthcare Group launch in Abuja, stakeholders called out Nigeria’s unsustainable out-of-pocket healthcare model. The initiative aims to unify private providers, lower costs, and attract capital through discount cards, low-income insurance, and investor incentives.
- Antibiotic Misuse in Nigeria Fuels Growing Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis
Nigeria is grappling with a growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis due to rampant misuse of antibiotics. Despite existing prescription laws, weak enforcement allows easy over-the-counter access to antibiotics, with many self-medicating due to poverty, misinformation, or limited healthcare.
- Governor Radda Seals Healthcare Equipment Deal With Siemens in Germany
During a visit to Siemens Healthineers in Germany, Katsina State Governor, Dikko Umaru Radda, procured advanced medical equipment. The equipment is for the state’s Ultra-Modern Radiology Centre and Central Reference Laboratory. The deal includes MRI, CT scanners, digital X-ray, and automated lab systems to improve diagnostics and local capacity.
- AMCE Opens in Abuja, Pioneers World-Class Healthcare in Africa
On June 5, 2025, the African Medical Centre of Excellence (AMCE) opened in Abuja. As a $300M Afreximbank–King’s College Hospital project, it is set to advance Africa’s healthcare. The center offers oncology, cardiology, and more, with 170 beds (to expand to 500). It is West Africa’s largest stem cell lab.
- Bill Gates: Nigeria’s Health Budget Too Small for Critical Challenges
During a media roundtable in Lagos, Bill Gates criticized Nigeria’s insufficient health spending. He warned that low investment and foreign aid cuts will worsen outcomes like maternal and child mortality. Despite a rise in the 2025 health budget to ₦2.48 trillion, it remains only 5.18% of the total national budget. This is well below the Abuja Declaration’s 15% target.
- FG Collaborates With Development Partners To Save 60M Women From Cancer
Senator Oluremi Tinubu launched a cervical cancer elimination initiative under the Renewal Hope Agenda. This aims to meet WHO’s 90-70-90 targets by 2030. The National Taskforce on Cervical Cancer Elimination is led by Prof. Isaac Adewole. It seeks to vaccinate 50% of eligible girls and screen 50% of women by 2027.
- Diaspora Doctors Can Transform Nigeria’s Health Sector – Dabiri-Erewa
At the commissioning of the $1M Philip Ozuah Block at UI’s College of Medicine, Abike Dabiri-Erewa highlighted the role of diaspora doctors in reversing medical tourism through local investment. She noted they’ve established 10 hospitals in four years, including AMCE Abuja.
- FUTH to Lead Nigeria’s Lassa Fever Vaccine Research Hub
The Federal University Teaching Hospital, Lafia, spearheads Nigeria’s first vaccine research and development centre focused on Lassa fever. CMD Dr. Ikrama Hassan is collaborating with biotech expert Dr. Simon Agwale to revive a dormant facility and bridge the nation’s vaccine research gap.
- Africa Loses $7bn Annually on Medical Tourism – Afreximbank
Afreximbank says Africa loses $7 billion yearly to medical tourism, with Nigeria accounting for $1.1 billion. This weakens local healthcare and drives brain drain. In response, Afreximbank launched the Health & Medical Tourism Program and invested over $450 million in the Africa Medical Center of Excellence in Abuja.
- Senate, Health Experts Call for Urgent Action on Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria
Senate Health Committee Chair Dr. Ipalibo Harry-Banigo emphasized the urgent need for Nigeria to fast-track UHC through public-private collaboration. She cited chronic underfunding, workforce migration, and fragmented services as barriers. She also called for legislative action on digital health, stillbirth data, hospital energy subsidies, and extended maternity leave.
- WHO Declares Mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern
The World Health Organization (WHO) reaffirmed that the global mpox upsurge remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus cited ongoing case increases, particularly in West Africa, undetected transmissions in some countries, and challenges in surveillance, diagnostics, and funding.
- FG, Gavi Launch $191M Grant to Boost Immunization in Nigeria
The Federal Government of Nigeria, in collaboration with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, has launched the Health Systems Strengthening 3 (HSS3) initiative with a $191 million grant aimed at increasing immunization coverage and reaching 1.8 million zero-dose children across Nigeria over the next four years.
- Swiss Healthcare Giant Roche Expands to Nigeria to Boost Diagnostics Access
Roche Diagnostics launched a new legal entity in Nigeria to serve as a regional hub for Anglophone West Africa, enhancing access to innovative diagnostics and improving healthcare infrastructure. The initiative supports Roche’s 10-year strategy to expand in vitro diagnostics across Africa.
- Informed Consent in Nigeria: The Silent Crisis Undermining Patients’ Rights
Despite being core to medical ethics, informed consent and patient autonomy are poorly upheld in Nigeria due to legal, cultural, and systemic barriers. Medical paternalism, patriarchal norms, and lack of awareness undermine individuals’ rights, especially women’s, making ethical healthcare difficult to achieve.
- Doctors Sound Alarm on Rare Cancer Creeping Through Nigeria
At the 2025 World Kidney Cancer Day in Abuja, experts called for greater awareness and early detection of kidney cancer, still under-recognised in Nigeria. Hosted by MACA with IKCC support, the event highlighted the disease’s subtle signs and late diagnosis risks.
- Nigeria Urged to Rethink Donor Dependence as U.S. Slashes Global Health Funding
President Donald Trump’s renewed cut in U.S. donor support to global health has intensified pressure on Nigeria’s donor-dependent healthcare system. With WHO’s budget already reduced for 2026–2027 and the U.S. retreating from key agencies like USAID and CDC, Nigeria faces a looming funding crisis. Nigeria fails to develop local vaccine and drug production despite lessons from COVID-19.
- Nigeria Records Spike in Lassa Fever Cases as Death Toll Hits 143
Nigeria recorded 11 new Lassa fever cases in Week 23 of 2025, bringing the death toll to 143 and pushing the Case Fatality Rate to 18.9%, up from 17.8% last year. The NCDC links the surge to delayed treatment and poor sanitation. Most cases are in Ondo, Edo, Bauchi, Taraba, and Ebonyi States.
- LASG, Foundation Canvass Support for Cancer Survivors
The Lagos State Government and the Atinuke Cancer Foundation marked National Cancer Survivors Day by celebrating survivors and calling for stronger support systems. Officials emphasized early detection, better treatment, and partnerships for survivorship. The event featured inspiring stories and a panel of global cancer thrivers. Dr. Zainab Bagudu and Prof.
- Nigerians Need to Stop Going Abroad for Healthcare, Start Producing Drugs – Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, called on Nigerians to end medical tourism and focus on local drug production during the Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers event in Lagos. He emphasized the need for partnerships, especially with Bill Gates, to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system.
- AXA Mansard Unveils Digital, Flexible Health Insurance Solution
AXA Mansard Health Limited launched a fully digital health insurance product with flexible monthly premium payments spread over up to 10 months, replacing the traditional annual payment model. This innovation aims to make health insurance more affordable and accessible.
- Pharmacists Challenge Physicians’ Monopoly in Hospital Leadership
The Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN) condemned the exclusive leadership of physicians in Federal Health Institutions, calling it unethical and harmful to healthcare. They argue that Decree 10 of 1985 institutionalized this imbalance, resulting in corruption, inefficiency, and neglect of preventive care.
- MTN Nigeria Donates Medical, Digital Equipment to Lagos PHC
As part of its annual Y’ello Care initiative, MTN Nigeria donated essential medical and digital tools to Obalende Primary Healthcare Centre in Lagos. The donation includes delivery beds, tablets, computers, and a 5G router, aimed at digitizing records and facilitating telemedicine.
- Stakeholders Advocate Stronger Public-Private Synergy for Health Sector
At WHX Lagos 2025, stakeholders across Africa called for stronger public-private partnerships to transform Nigeria’s health system. The event featured 500 exhibitors, 8000 participants and innovations in AI, diagnostics, and medical tech.
- Maiduguri Hospital Achieves Major Kidney Surgery Milestone
The University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) has successfully completed its second living-donor kidney transplant, 15 years after its first in 2010. The hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Prof. Ahmed Ahidjo, announced that 20 more patients are awaiting transplants and appealed for public support to fund surgeries for indigent patients.
- NARD Gives Government Four Weeks to Meet Demands
Resident doctors under NARD have given the federal government a four-week deadline till the end of June to address multiple outstanding demands, including salary arrears, specialist allowances, and improved welfare. While no consequences were stated, the group will reassess the situation afterward.
Why This Matters to You
Every article in this roundup reflects a shift in policy, infrastructure, innovation, or opportunity. They affect how hospitals in Nigeria can deliver quality, accessible, and efficient care. The Hospital Improvement Newsletter exists to keep you informed and equipped to make better decisions for your facility, patients, and team.
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