Zamfara State has emerged as the best-performing state in the North-West zone under the Primary Health Care (PHC) Leadership Challenge, marking a significant boost for the state’s health sector reforms.
The state was announced the winner at an award ceremony held on Friday at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The recognition comes with a cash prize of $500,000.
In a statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, the award was linked to ongoing efforts by the state government to strengthen primary healthcare delivery.
According to the statement, the PHC Leadership Challenge was launched in 2022 by the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) to promote a health system capable of delivering quality care to Nigerians irrespective of location or circumstance.
The initiative, supported through the PHC Leadership Challenge Fund, is designed to encourage sustainable healthcare financing while motivating Nigeria’s 36 states to compete in improving primary healthcare services.
The award presented to Governor Dauda Lawal is a collaborative initiative involving the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Dangote Foundation, and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).
The statement noted that the recognition reflects the impact of Governor Lawal’s declaration of a state of emergency in the health sector, which it said is already yielding positive results.
Zamfara was among several states rewarded across the country, as leading states from the North-East, North-Central, South-East, South-South, and South-West zones collectively shared a total of $6.1 million in the third edition of the Primary Health Care Leadership Challenge Awards.
