Koko Maxwella 
ABUJA, Nigeria – Health policy experts are urging the Federal Government to establish dedicated urban health units nationwide, warning that millions of Nigerians living in slums remain dangerously underserved by the formal healthcare system.
The call comes from the Health Policy Research Group at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, on Friday during a policy dialogue in Abuja, where evidence shows that urban poor communities rely overwhelmingly on informal healthcare providers due to limited access to regulated services.
Coordinator of the group, Professor Obinna Onwujekwe, says research under the CHORUS project across eight slum communities in Enugu State reveals weak referral systems, poor supervision and inconsistent medical record-keeping.
“Urban slum residents are largely invisible in health planning, yet informal providers deliver over 90 per cent of care in these areas,” Onwujekwe says.
Pilot interventions linking informal practitioners to the formal health system, he explains, significantly improve diagnosis, patient follow-up and accountability. Enugu State has already created an urban health unit within its health structure, a model experts now say should be scaled nationally.
“Integration is not optional. Informal providers already deliver more than half of healthcare services nationwide,” Onwujekwe adds. Stakeholders at the dialogue say expanding urban health units would strengthen oversight, improve quality of care and close widening health inequalities in Nigeria’s rapidly growing cities.
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Oluwatobi Adu 
Chukwu Obinna 
Korede Abdullah 