Understanding the Rudiments of Nigeria’s National Health Policies of 1988, 2004, AND 2016 The Comprehension of Health Policy Stakeholders’ Opinion in Nigeria

Abstract

Increasing health challenges within the Nigerian health system threaten the sustainability of national health policy development and implementation. The Nigerian government has within 28 years developed three health policy documents, beginning in 1988, revised in 2004, and 2016. Despite these efforts, the implementation challenges linger. In this regard, the study aims to understand the health policy development and implementation prowess from the stakeholder’s perspectives. The methodology adopts a descriptive qualitative study approach. The study was conducted in 12 states of the country, targeting experienced respondents. An in-depth interview with 15 purposively selected respondents from the government, development partners, CSOs, and academia was conducted. The study revealed the contribution of pressure groups to the government of the three National health policies of 1988, 2004, and 2016 respectively, and improvement in health policy implementation in the country. However. the study identifies a lack of synergy between government and private sectors in terms of Private Public Partnerships for policy development and implementation. Therefore, the study suggests the inclusion of a monitoring and evaluation framework in policy implementation processes. Also, a further study that critically assesses the impediment factors to the successful involvement of the private sector in health policy formation should be explored.