Nigeria’s most pressing health risks are no longer confined to hospitals or clinics. They are emerging at the intersection of human activity, animal systems, and environmental change. Flooded communities can accelerate the spread of waterborne diseases; the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance is making once-treatable illnesses harder to manage; and the increasing frequency of zoonotic infections is driving the transmission of diseases between animals and humans.
Yet, despite the interconnected nature of these risks, Nigeria’s health system remains largely structured to respond in silos. This disconnect is no longer sustainable. Strengthening health outcomes and national health security will depend on how effectively Nigeria can transition from fragmented responses to a coordinated, system-wide approach.
This is the context in which the One Health framework has gained increasing relevance. While the concept is now widely recognised within policy and technical circles, including through initiatives led by institutions like the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), implementation remains uneven.
Coordination across human health, animal health, and environmental systems is still limited, data systems are not fully aligned, and critical investments in prevention and surveillance remain fragmented. The result is a system that acknowledges interconnected risks but is not yet fully designed to manage them.
A fragmented response to interconnected risks
Nigeria’s health system remains largely organised along sectoral lines. Human health, veterinary services, and environmental management continue to operate within parallel institutional frameworks, with limited coordination in planning, data sharing, and response mechanisms.
This fragmentation has practical consequences.
Disease surveillance systems are often not fully interoperable across sectors. Environmental risks, including flooding and waste management challenges, are not consistently integrated into health planning. At the same time, agricultural practices and livestock systems, which are critical to livelihoods and food security, are not always aligned with public health priorities.
The result is a system that responds to interconnected risks in a fragmented manner, limiting its ability to anticipate, prevent, and contain emerging threats effectively. For example, flooding, which directly causes erosion as well as waterborne diseases, illustrates how fragmented Nigeria’s response systems remain, as environmental agencies will focus primarily on infrastructure damage and flood risks, the health sector will focus on the disease outcomes, and the agricultural sector focuses on just livestock exposure. All without a coordinated approach despite facing the same underlying risks.
Antimicrobial resistance illustrates this challenge clearly. The misuse of antibiotics across both human and animal health systems continues to accelerate resistance, yet interventions are often designed and implemented within sector-specific silos. Without coordinated surveillance, regulation, and behaviour change strategies, progress remains constrained.
Global momentum, local imperatives
This challenge is not unique to Nigeria. It is increasingly shaping global health priorities.
At the One Health Summit 2026 in Lyon, convened under France’s G7 Presidency, global leaders across government, industry, and science emphasised the need to strengthen cross-sector collaboration, accelerate investment in prevention, and build more resilient and integrated health systems. These discussions were not abstract; they focused on practical pathways for aligning policy, financing, and delivery across sectors.
The Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) was part of this global dialogue. Representing HFN, Prof. Chimezie Anyakora, CEO of Bloom Public Health, contributed to the One Health Economic Forum, where he joined global industry leaders in examining how to build accessible healthcare pathways across prevention, diagnostics, and treatment. The session reinforced a critical point: achieving health system resilience will depend on coordinated action between public institutions and private sector actors, particularly in areas such as surveillance, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical production.
For Nigeria, these priorities are directly relevant. The country’s health system cannot achieve resilience without stronger investments in prevention and surveillance. Nor can it achieve sustainable access to care without addressing structural gaps in local manufacturing and supply chains. The connection between global dialogue and national policy is therefore not abstract. It is immediate and practical.
Nigeria’s role in this global agenda is set to deepen further as it prepares to host the 5th Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in Abuja from June 28–30, 2026. This convening presents a critical opportunity to engage directly in shaping the global response to one of the most urgent health threats of our time. Antimicrobial resistance, driven in part by fragmented systems across human, animal, and environmental health, underscores the very challenge that the One Health approach seeks to address. Hosting the summit reinforces both Nigeria’s position in the global policy dialogue and the urgency of strengthening coordination, surveillance, and system-wide responses at home.
Beyond awareness: The case for system design
Nigeria has demonstrated its ability to respond effectively when coordination is prioritised. Past public health successes, including Ebola containment and ongoing infectious disease management efforts, have shown that cross-sector collaboration is possible when supported by strong institutional leadership.
The challenge now is to move from episodic coordination to structured system design built on three core pillars: governance, data systems and financing.
Operationalising One Health requires embedding coordination into the core architecture of the health system. This includes strengthening governance to align policies and responsibilities across ministries, enhancing shared surveillance platforms, and ensuring that data is shared across sectors in real time. It also requires integrating environmental and animal health considerations into national health planning processes, rather than treating them as peripheral concerns.
Financing mechanisms must also evolve to reflect this interconnected reality. Investments in surveillance systems, laboratory capacity, environmental health, and digital infrastructure cannot remain fragmented. A more coordinated approach to financing is essential to ensure that resources are deployed efficiently across sectors that collectively shape health outcomes.
The role of the private sector
Nigeria’s private healthcare sector plays a central role in service delivery, diagnostics, and innovation. It is often the first point of care for a significant proportion of the population and generates valuable data that can strengthen national surveillance systems.
Integrating private sector capacity into One Health frameworks is therefore not optional; it is essential.
Global discussions in Lyon reinforced this point. Private sector actors are critical to scaling innovation, expanding access, and strengthening supply chains, particularly in areas such as diagnostics, digital health, and pharmaceutical manufacturing. As the umbrella body for Nigeria’s private healthcare sector, HFN is positioned to support this integration, working with government institutions and partners to strengthen coordination, improve data systems, and align private sector capabilities with national health priorities.
From concept to coordinated action
The growing recognition of One Health within Nigeria’s policy landscape is an important step forward. However, recognition alone will not strengthen health security or improve outcomes.
What is required is deliberate system alignment. This means moving beyond conceptual frameworks toward practical implementation, where institutions collaborate routinely, data systems are interoperable, and financing supports integrated action. It also means recognising that health system resilience depends not only on clinical care but also on how effectively Nigeria manages the broader ecosystem in which health outcomes are produced.
Nigeria does not need to adopt One Health as a new idea. It already operates within its reality. The task ahead is to organise its systems accordingly.
This article is a partnership between the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) and BusinessDay to highlight policies and programmes to promote the rebuilding of Nigeria’s health sector. As a private sector-led coalition, HFN advocates for policies and partnerships to strengthen healthcare delivery. This partnership aims to spark meaningful discussions and drive transformative change in Nigeria’s health sector.
This article was developed with input from members of the HFN Editorial Committee, including Njide Ndili (President of HFN and Country Director of PharmAccess), Dr Folajimi Adebowale (CEO, Recon Health Media) and Professor Chimezie Anyakora (CEO Bloom Public Health).
