Nigeria lauds WHO's help in strengthening health system

The Nigerian government hailed on Thursday the World Health Organization (WHO) and other stakeholders for their efforts in helping strengthen the country's health system. The government cannot meet all the health needs of the people, and "partnership with the private sector, NGOs, communities and development partners ... is essential to deliver health services ... on a sustainable basis," said Minister of Health Onyebuchi Chukwu during the Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) review meeting organized by WHO. "I must commend WHO and all our development partners for joining hands with the Nigerian government to foster the strengthening of the health sector at all levels," he said. Chukwu said WHO has reviewed the implementation of the 2003-2013 CCS, saying the government is optimistic that the findings will help improve Nigeria's health system. "This will give us some insight into how to move forward in the process of developing the 2014-2019 CCS," he said. Gama Vaz, head of the WHO team, hailed the strategies in Nigeria's CCS work over the past five years, saying "They were meant to strengthen and improve partnership coordination and resource mobilization."