Health
FG, Experts Chart New Rehabilitation Policy After Sector Review
By Justina Auta
Nigeria’s health stakeholders have urged urgent, coordinated reforms to improve rehabilitation services after an assessment exposed significant gaps in the nation’s rehabilitation system in Abuja.
They made the call on Monday in a communiqué signed by the Rehabilitation Technical Group after the National Stakeholders’ Validation Meeting on implementing Rehabilitation 2030 through WHO’s STARS and Rehabilitation Maturity Model frameworks.
The meeting convened representatives from ministries, agencies, academia, development partners, professional bodies and service providers to assess rehabilitation services, including system capacity, performance and maturity across six important healthcare domains nationwide.
According to the communiqué, stakeholders noted rehabilitation remains critical for strengthening health systems and achieving universal health coverage, although findings showed none of the 50 assessed components performed optimally across Nigeria.
The communiqué stated the assessment, conducted under the WHO Rehabilitation 2030 Call for Action and African Regional Rehabilitation Strategy, evaluated rehabilitation capacity, performance and system maturity across six healthcare domains nationwide.
Findings showed none of the 50 assessed components performed optimally, while only two demonstrated strong performance, 16 required strengthening and 32 remained underdeveloped, requiring urgent establishment and broad system-wide intervention nationwide.
Stakeholders identified weak governance structures, inadequate financing, poor data systems, workforce shortages, uneven infrastructure distribution and limited accessibility of rehabilitation services as major challenges affecting Nigeria’s healthcare rehabilitation sector currently nationwide.
The communiqué noted rehabilitation was not explicitly reflected within national health policies, while leadership and coordination mechanisms remained weak, with current rehabilitation efforts largely driven by the MRTB requiring broader institutional support.
Participants noted the absence of a dedicated rehabilitation budget, while limited insurance coverage continued forcing many Nigerians to rely heavily on out-of-pocket payments for rehabilitation services across healthcare facilities nationwide.
The meeting further revealed rehabilitation data was not routinely captured within the national health information system, thereby limiting evidence-based planning, policy development and informed decision-making processes across healthcare institutions.
Stakeholders also expressed concern over shortages of rehabilitation professionals, limited training institutions and poor workforce distribution, particularly at the primary healthcare level, where rehabilitation services remained significantly underdeveloped across communities nationwide.
On service accessibility, participants noted rehabilitation services remained concentrated within few tertiary facilities, while community-based rehabilitation services were largely absent in the public healthcare sector across several Nigerian communities and states.
The communiqué further highlighted low awareness and acceptability of rehabilitation services among healthcare personnel and communities, affecting referrals, service utilisation and timely access to rehabilitation interventions across healthcare facilities nationwide.
In spite of existing challenges, stakeholders acknowledged moderate progress, including patient-centred rehabilitation services, existing referral systems within acute settings and gradual alignment of rehabilitation training programmes with recognised global standards across institutions nationwide.
As part of agreed next steps, stakeholders resolved that a comprehensive validation meeting report should be produced within two weeks, while a clean draft of the STARS report would be finalised.
They added that a revised report incorporating stakeholder inputs would be submitted to the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare alongside the MRTB before the June 9 submission deadline nationwide.
The meeting also agreed consultations would continue through virtual and physical stakeholder engagements supporting report refinement and development of a National Rehabilitation Policy addressing challenges confronting rehabilitation services across Nigeria.
Stakeholders further emphasised the need for an implementation plan backed by a costed framework supporting resource mobilisation, alongside monitoring and evaluation systems designed to effectively track rehabilitation reform progress nationwide continuously.
They also called for adoption of rehabilitation reforms at state level based on local needs, alongside endorsement through the National Council on Health to strengthen implementation and nationwide policy coordination across Nigeria.
The stakeholders emphasised the need for sustained advocacy, broader stakeholder engagement and stronger national ownership to maintain momentum towards improving rehabilitation services and healthcare outcomes across communities throughout Nigeria sustainably.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Abiemwense Moru
