{
  "id": 10492045,
  "title": "Stakeholders seek evidence-driven strategy to improve healthcare access",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/stakeholders-seek-evidence-driven-strategy-to-improve-healthcare-10492045",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-28T17:26:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Punch Nigeria",
    "slug": "punch-nigeria",
    "url": "https://punchng.com/stakeholders-seek-evidence-driven-strategy-to-improve-healthcare-access/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has called for a locally-led research agenda to improve healthcare access and financial protection for Nigerians. Dr Kelechi Ohiri, Director-General of NHIA, made this call at the inaugural Nigeria Health Financing Research and Learning Forum, held in Abuja. Ohiri stressed the need for Nigeria to take greater ownership of health financing research, arguing that episodic studies had limited the country's ability to build a sustained evidence base. He emphasized that research sovereignty did not mean isolation from international partners, but rather putting Nigeria in the driver's seat to define its research priorities and ensure context-relevant outputs guide policies and implementation. During the two-day forum, representatives will review five NHIA-commissioned studies and examine health financing experiences from Ethiopia, Ghana, and India. The forum aims to establish a stronger health financing research ecosystem, with the NHIA identifying 15 studies linked to its strategic priorities. The country's health insurance system remains fragmented, with 37 government schemes and over 95 private companies, posing challenges to sustainability. Plans are underway for a national health financing observatory, a national research agenda, 15 research action plans, and regional collaboration frameworks. The World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative in Nigeria, Dr Pavel Ursu, highlighted the importance of evidence in supporting reforms aimed at expanding coverage, improving quality of care, and strengthening financial protection. WHO commended the establishment of the forum, stating it would help translate global commitments into concrete country-level action.",
  "summary": "The National Health Insurance Authority has called for a locally led health financing research agenda to guide reforms and improve healthcare access for Ni Read More: https://punchng.com/stakeholders-seek-evidence-driven-strategy-to-improve-healthcare-access/",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Punch",
        "title": "Stakeholders seek evidence-driven strategy to improve healthcare access",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/stakeholders-seek-evidence-driven-strategy-to-improve-healthcare",
        "published": "2026-09-28T17:04:53.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}