Prof Aruma Disu advocates equitable distribution of FG’s approved ₦32b to fund Primary Healthcare facilities 

The erudite Professor who made the recommendation while delivering the 124th Inaugural Lecture of the Lagos State University (LASU) on Tuesday, July 7th, 2026, at the institution’s main campus at Ojo, disclosed that the fund was approved in 2025, and should be sustained, adding that funds must be equitably and effectively distributed across the continuum of care.

Speaking on the theme: “Help! Baby Is Not Breathing! Answering The Call For Survival Of The Nigerian Newborn”, stressed that the Basic Health Care Provision Fund should be strengthened and fully implemented to improve maternal and newborn health services.

Prof Disu also called for full Implementation of National Policies and Commitments for Newborn Survival including the National Health Act (NHA) six years after its enactment, she stated that the National Health Act is still not fully implemented. “The government should ensure effective execution of the Act by providing adequate funding and free healthcare services for children, especially newborns. Currently, limited access to funds leads healthcare workers to shift costs to parents. All stakeholders in the health sector must also actively support full implementation of the Act.”

Other recommendations include Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Reduction Innovation and Initiatives (MAMII). She stated, “MAMII should be expanded to place greater emphasis on newborn health interventions. The programme should also be revised to explicitly include newborn health in its framework to ensure focused implementation.” She added that  Public Awareness, Capacity Building, and Health System should be Strengthened.

Professor Aruma Disu maintained that there is a need to improve public awareness of health policies, laws, and citizens’ rights. This, according to her, would empower people to hold the government accountable for commitments in these documents. She said that Stakeholders within and outside the health sector, including healthcare workers, professional bodies, partners, and NGOs, should be actively engaged through pre-service and in-service training.

She said that Government support is essential to ensure adequate funding for policy dissemination, as reliance on donor funding alone is insufficient for infant health programmes.

Additional key recommendations include improvement of welfare and retention of healthcare workers in Nigeria to reduce manpower shortages; Strengthening capacity building to improve the use of existing tools and policies; Provision of incentives for healthcare workers in critical areas such as NICU and ICU and Integration of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) into the health system through proper categorization, training and regulation, as their involvement can be beneficial if well structured. She added that it could be harnessed to address the current manpower shortage.

Other recommendations were Assurance of effective implementation of the National Health Act and proper utilization of BHCPF funds and Promotion of Early Childhood Development (ECD) due to its long-term health and developmental benefits.

In conclusion, the professor of Paediatrics stated that the cry of the newborn health carer for help when the baby does not breathe requires immediate skilled and committed action given at all times and all levels of care. “This makes newborn resuscitation a critical issue in child survival. In addition to ensuring that the newborn breathes through adequate resuscitation, the implementation of effective prenatal, perinatal and postnatal policies and strategies, to  sustain the efforts and ensure that the newborn thrives are crucial for the future of our nation.

“Every baby deserves a chance to breathe. The health care system in Nigeria must be ready to make that chance real.

“We know the causes, we have the tools, we can end preventable neonatal deaths! We can do so everywhere across the length and breadth of Nigeria from the Sahel deserts of Sokoto through to the creeks of the Niger Delta in Bayelsa and across Saki in Oyo state to Gwoza in Borno state giving every baby a chance to survive!

“I close with this quote by Melinda Gates, ‘All children no matter where they are born deserve a healthy start in life. No investment in global health has a greater return than saving the life of a child, the future generation”’.