The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has called on the World Bank to strengthen its collaboration with the state in order to improve access to affordable and quality healthcare for residents.
Sule noted that, despite progress made through the state’s Health Insurance Scheme, maternal and child health initiatives, as well as the NG-CARES and Impact projects, broader international support remains crucial to achieving universal health coverage.
The governor made the appeal on Monday in Abuja while leading a delegation of state officials to the World Bank Country Office, where he met with the new Country Director, Mathew Verghis.
He was accompanied by the commissioners for finance, health, and education, along with the Executive Secretary of the Primary Health Care Development Agency, to advocate for expanded support.
During the meeting, Sule highlighted the strides made in strengthening healthcare delivery at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.
Nasarawa State is currently revitalising 58 primary healthcare centres in partnership with the World Bank and other development agencies. These centres, designed to operate 24-hour services, aim to bridge healthcare access gaps across both rural and urban communities.
“Our administration has made deliberate investments to improve healthcare delivery, but we cannot achieve our vision in isolation. We are seeking strengthened partnership and complementary funding support from the World Bank to ensure that every community in Nasarawa State has access to quality and affordable health services,” the governor said.
He also reiterated the state government’s commitment to advancing healthcare through initiatives such as the Health Insurance Scheme, the Impact Project, maternal and child health programmes, the NG-CARES initiative, and the ongoing effort to establish functional healthcare facilities in all 147 electoral wards of the state.
