Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and health stakeholders begin plans to overhaul Nigeria’s struggling rehabilitation sector after a national assessment exposes severe weaknesses in rehabilitation services nationwide.
The decision follows a high-level stakeholders’ validation meeting in Abuja on implementing the World Health Organization Rehabilitation 2030 initiative through the Systematic Assessment of Rehabilitation Situation and Rehabilitation Maturity Model.
In a Wednesday communiqué signed by the Rehabilitation Technical Group, stakeholders describe rehabilitation as “a critical component of health systems strengthening and an essential pathway towards achieving universal health coverage.”
The assessment examines Nigeria’s rehabilitation services across six major health system domains and reveals widespread structural failures.
According to the communiqué, none of the 50 assessed rehabilitation components operates at an optimal level, while 32 components function at “very low” capacity requiring urgent intervention.
Stakeholders identify weak governance, poor financing, workforce shortages, inadequate infrastructure and limited access to rehabilitation care as key challenges undermining the sector.
Participants also raise concerns over the absence of rehabilitation services in national health policies and the lack of a dedicated rehabilitation budget.
The meeting further highlights poor integration of rehabilitation data into Nigeria’s national health information system, limiting evidence-based planning and policy development.
Stakeholders say rehabilitation care remains concentrated in tertiary hospitals, while community-based rehabilitation services are largely unavailable in public healthcare facilities.
Despite the challenges, participants acknowledge moderate progress in patient-centred rehabilitation services, referral systems and alignment of training programmes with international standards.
The meeting resolves that a revised national rehabilitation report will be submitted to the Federal Ministry of Health and the Medical Rehabilitation Therapists Board by June 9.
Stakeholders also call for a National Rehabilitation Policy backed by sustainable funding, monitoring systems and state-level implementation plans.
Health experts warn that Nigeria’s rising burden of disability, stroke complications, road crash injuries and non-communicable diseases is rapidly increasing demand for rehabilitation services nationwide.
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