Shettima Launches Continental Plan to Strengthen Community Healthcare, Targets 100,000 Workers by 2027
Shettima Launches Continental Plan to Strengthen Community Healthcare, Targets 100,000 Workers by 2027
Shettima Launches Continental Plan to Strengthen Community Healthcare, Targets 100,000 Workers by 2027
Vice President Kashim Shettima has reaffirmed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to improving the welfare, legal protection and reliable payment of community health workers, stressing that their contributions are essential to strengthening primary healthcare delivery across Nigeria.
Shettima stated this on Thursday, October 29, 2026, in Abuja, while launching the Community Health Programme Continental Acceleration Plan 2026–2030 at the Continental High-Level Forum on a Fit-for-Purpose Health Workforce.
He said fair remuneration, proper certification, dependable salaries, effective supervision and career development were necessary to build a strong and sustainable community health workforce.
The Vice President noted that community health workers play a critical role in identifying maternal health risks, locating unvaccinated children, collecting household health data and detecting disease outbreaks.
“We cannot afford the luxury of taking our community health workers for granted,” he said, adding that governments must ensure that access to healthcare does not depend on where a person is born or lives.
Shettima recalled that 25 years after the Abuja Declaration committed African countries to allocating at least 15 per cent of their national budgets to health, many communities still lack adequate access to healthcare services.
He also expressed concern over declining external health financing, noting that many countries depend heavily on donor support for community health programmes.
The Vice President said Nigeria was taking steps to address the shortage of community health workers, explaining that the country’s workforce remained below the estimated 315,000 required by 2030.
He disclosed that President Tinubu’s Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative had secured more than $2.2 billion in commitments, with programmes to revitalise over 17,000 primary healthcare centres and train 120,000 frontline health workers.
“Our goal is 100,000 salaried community health workers by 2027,” Shettima said.
On the continental plan, he explained that its priorities include improved governance, integration of community health into primary healthcare, workforce development, digital systems, service delivery, financing, medical supplies and accountability.
He said the plan’s ambitious scenario would require about $28 billion through 2030, with more than 80 per cent allocated to recurrent costs. It also projects $19 in economic and social benefits for every dollar invested.
Shettima called on African countries to commit to nationally owned plans, budgets and monitoring frameworks to ensure sustainable financing and measurable results.
Earlier, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Iziaq Kunle Salako, commended President Tinubu for approving Nigeria’s hosting of the forum and the launch of the continental plan.
Salako said Tinubu’s role as African Union Champion for Human Resources for Health and the Community Health Delivery Partnership reflected Nigeria’s commitment to the continental target of deploying two million community health workers by 2030.
He added that the plan aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly its focus on strengthening disease surveillance, primary healthcare and community resilience.
Also speaking, Egypt’s Deputy Minister of Health for Population and Family Development, Dr. Abla Al-Alfi, called for stronger primary healthcare systems and greater support for community health workers to improve maternal and family health outcomes.
She said Egypt was working with government institutions, including the Ministries of Social Solidarity and Youth, to raise health awareness, strengthen community participation and reduce preventable maternal deaths.
Similarly, the Deputy Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Dr. Raji Tajudeen, urged African leaders to strengthen their political commitment to community healthcare.
He said the continent was falling behind its target of deploying two million community health workers by 2030, noting that African leaders adopted the target in 2016 but had achieved only about 50 per cent of it.
Tajudeen identified recurring infectious disease outbreaks, declining international health assistance and inadequate operational readiness of primary healthcare facilities as major challenges.
He said the African Union Assembly renewed its call for action in 2025, leading to the appointment of President Tinubu as Champion for Human Resources for Health and the Community Health Delivery Partnership.
He added that Africa CDC was working with the African Union’s 55 member states and development partners to identify barriers to deploying community health workers and develop strategies to accelerate progress.
Tajudeen also commended Nigeria’s efforts in primary healthcare, community health systems and universal health coverage, saying other African countries had lessons to learn from the country’s response to the Ebola outbreak.
Shettima Launches Continental Plan to Strengthen Community Healthcare, Targets 100,000 Workers by 2027
