Essential Package of Health Services Country Snapshot Nigeria 

Resource Type: Brief
Authors: Jenna Wright
Published: July 2015

Resource Description:

An Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) can be defined as the package of services that the government is providing or is aspiring to provide to its citizens in an equitable manner.

This country snapshot is one in a series of 24 snapshots looking at the governance dimensions of Essential Packages of Health Services in the Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Death priority countries. The snapshot explores several important dimensions of the EPHS in the country, such as how government policies contribute to the service coverage, population coverage, and financial coverage of the package.

The government of Nigeria has embraced the EPHS concept for some time, but its implementation has faced challenges. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency defined a Ward Health Care Minimum Package for Primary Health Care, but dissemination and implementation were very limited. The National Strategic Health and Development Plan (NSHDP) 2010–2015 included something called the “Essential Package of Care” that appears to be Nigeria’s current EPHS. In December 2014 Nigeria’s President signed the National Health Bill, which had been in the works for many years, into law.

Essential Package of Health Services and Health Benefit Plans Mapping Brief

Resource Type: Brief
Authors: Lauren Windemeyer
Published: June 2017

Resource Description:

Many governments are scaling up health benefit plans, such as social health insurance, to increase population health coverage. This brief presents findings from a mapping between the services covered under the country’s prominent health benefit plan(s) to the country’s Essential Package of Health Services. The mapping analyzes the extent to which the plan(s) cover essential services.

This brief is for policymakers and program managers seeking to promote universal health coverage. It presents HFG’s findings and observations about the relationship between the services in an EPHS and the services covered in HBPs.