Lagos State Government has declared that mandatory health insurance and stronger public-private partnerships (PPP) remain the cornerstone of its healthcare financing reforms as it moves to close an estimated N100 billion gap between current health sector funding and projected healthcare needs in the state.
Commissioner Highlights Funding Shortfall
The state's Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi, speaking at the 2026 media briefing to mark the third year of the second term of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu's administration, said the state was intensifying efforts to expand health insurance coverage, improve healthcare infrastructure, and reposition Lagos as a leading medical tourism destination in Africa.
Abayomi disclosed that Lagos State currently spends about eight percent of its budget on health, far below the 15 percent benchmark recommended under the Abuja Declaration. He stressed that alternative financing mechanisms had become imperative for the sustainability of healthcare delivery.
According to him, there is a gap between what is available through the budget and what the state ideally wants to spend. The blue bar represents the current budget, while the red bar is the wish budget, and there is a gap of at least N100 billion between what is received and what is needed.
Dwindling Donor Support and Rising Demands
The commissioner noted that dwindling donor support and rising healthcare demands in a rapidly growing megacity necessitated the state's aggressive push for mandatory health insurance and stronger collaboration with the private sector. He lamented that about 77 percent of healthcare spending in Nigeria currently comes directly from citizens' pockets, while only two percent is financed through insurance, describing the situation as unsustainable and anomalous.
Education Sector Achievements
Also speaking, Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Ope George, highlighted achievements in the education sector. He said the Lagos Education Access Fund (LEAF), under the Education Outcomes Fund (EOF), has moved into active implementation, targeting to impact over 200,000 children within three years.
Medical Personnel Shortfall
Meanwhile, the state government has said it needs about 40,000 medical doctors to adequately serve its growing population but currently has only about 7,000 doctors, leaving a deficit of more than 33,000 physicians. Abayomi, who disclosed this during the media briefing, said Lagos requires an additional 40,000 nurses to close widening manpower gaps in the health sector, describing the shortage of healthcare workers as part of a global workforce crisis.
He warned that medical personnel in the state are overstretched due to the state's large population. The commissioner projected that Lagos State could emerge as a leading medical tourism destination in Africa by 2052 through sustained reforms, mandatory health insurance, and the state's Universal Health Coverage agenda.
He disclosed that Lagos currently operates 34 secondary and tertiary public health facilities, 325 primary healthcare centers, and about 3,500 private health facilities, alongside more than 10,000 community pharmacies and Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors.
