RTSL: Nigeria

Resolve to Save Lives’ Abuja office opened its doors in 2022 to strengthen partnerships for cardiovascular health and epidemic prevention in Nigeria.

A patient getting blood pressure measured by a primary health care worker in Kano State. Courtesy of the Nigeria Hypertension Control Initiative (NHCI).

Resolve to Save Lives works closely with the Government of Nigeria and other partners at national and subnational levels to end preventable deaths from cardiovascular diseases and infectious disease outbreaks.

Cardiovascular Health

We work with the Nigerian Government to reduce cardiovascular diseases in line with the country’s National Multi-sectoral Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases (2019–2025). In 2020, we launched the Nigerian Hypertension Control Initiative (NHCI) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (FMOH&SW), National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), World Health Organization (WHO), and the Kano and Ogun State Governments. NHCI uses the WHO HEARTS technical package to strengthen the detection, treatment, and control of high blood pressure in primary care.

We promote heart-healthy nutrition in Nigeria by supporting government efforts to create a healthier food supply by reducing risk factors for cardiovascular diseases such as salt. Along with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), WHO and other partners, we supported the development and passage of a best-practice trans fat elimination policy in 2023 and continue to support its implementation, strengthening national laboratory capacity for trans fat analysis.

Prevent Epidemics

We collaborate with Nigeria’s national and subnational governments to strengthen health security capacities and prevent deaths from infectious disease outbreaks. RTSL has supported the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) since the country’s first Joint External Evaluation (JEE) in 2017.

We provide flexible funding, strategic implementation, and capacity-building support to enhance the country’s capacity to effectively prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats. Our key focus areas include Legal Preparedness and Advocacy, Surveillance and Epidemiology, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Infection Prevention and Control (IPC), Public Health Laboratory Systems, and Health Security Financing and Primary Health Care Systems.

Since 2021, we have supported the NCDC in operationalizing its Engagement Strategy for Strengthening Health Security in States through the Subnational Emergency Preparedness and Response Capacity Building (SERCB) Project. This initiative has achieved significant milestones, including facilitating more than a dozen JEEs at the state level, completing health security legal assessments in more than 20 states, and enabling three states to establish improved legal and institutional frameworks to drive subnational IHR improvements.

Our Experts in Nigeria

Nanlop Ogbureke
Executive Director,
RTSL Nigeria 

Executive Director

News from Nigeria

trans fat lab techs sitting at laboratory table with white lab coat and blue head cap and mask

Training lab techs to keep toxic trans fat out of Nigeria’s food

To effectively ban trans fat and enforce compliance, lab tachs need training on simple protocols.…
Health care workers attending an ERPHC continued medical education session in Uganda. Credit: Resolve to Save Lives

Connect, detect, protect, treat: learnings from implementing Epidemic-Ready Primary Health Care

Resolve to Save Lives is partnering with primary health facilities to make sure they’re ready to stop the next epidemic.…
Health care worker using smartphone

Training health care workers to prevent epidemics—with their smartphones

Resolve to Save Lives partnered with HealthLearn to develop free, mobile-optimized training courses that help frontline health care workers recognize, report and contain infectious disease outbreaks. Recently, one of these…

Resources

Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare

National treatment guideline adopted in Nigeria to support the management of high blood pressure and improve access to medications.

Health Security

In a study published in Health Security, Resolve to Save Lives and partners introduce a tool for assessing subnational health security in Nigeria that evaluates state-level capacities under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR). With input from public health leaders and legal experts, the team used a legislative evaluation to determine feasible IHR activities within state legal frameworks to inform the tool, which was then piloted in Kano, Enugu and Kebbi states. Using 35 indicators across 14 technical areas, the tool identifies gaps in capacities and opportunities for improvement planning at the subnational level. This approach offers a model for strengthening preparedness in federated systems and geographically diverse countries.

Resolve to Save Lives

An overview of the process of developing the 2024 National Action Plan for Health Security Annual Operational Plan in Nigeria.

Contact us

Regus 4th Floor,
Churchgate Tower C,
Constitution Avenue,
Central Business District,
Abuja, Nigeria.

Phone  +23 47067874108
Email [email protected]