The African Health Observatory Platform on Health Systems and Policies (AHOP) presents a new policy brief from the Nigeria National Centre – The Health Policy Research Group (HPRG) – titled, “Strengthening the resilience of Nigeria’s health system: lessons from COVID-19 pandemic governance strategies”.  

Resilient health systems are critical to achieving good health outcomes before, during, and after public health emergencies. One of the key foundations of resilient health systems is governance, characterized by strong leadership, good coordination, and responsive decision-making. The brief finds that effective inter-agency collaboration and coordination were crucial to the implementation of the COVID-19 response in Nigeria, however, these were not institutionalized.  

There is an overarching need to mainstream Health in All Policies (HiAP) in Nigeria. Funding and capacity building are required to ensure that the country’s research and surveillance capabilities remain effective for the timely reporting of disease outbreaks. Accordingly, variations in State-level capacity require a bespoke approach of technical assistance and financial support. 

More active subnational involvement in strategic decision-making and operational planning could be achieved through decentralised decision-making structures, backed by adequate funding and capacity building. Maintenance and consolidation of strategic coordination structures are essential to build health system resilience and better respond to public health emergencies in the African region. Therefore, improved governance structures, incorporating subnational voices, are recommended to build system resilience and enable future emergency response efforts.