The Kwara State Government has again emerged as the ‘Best Performing State in North Central for the 2023/2024 Primary Health Care Leadership Challenge’.

Kwara had last year won the same award, underscoring the efforts of the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to strengthen basic healthcare delivery to the people in the State.

The award again comes with a $500,000 reward to be spent on facilities in line with the UNICEF/Nigeria Governors’ Forum specifications.

The Leadership Challenge is a peer review exercise to nudge subnational governments to do more to improve healthcare delivery and better outcomes for the people.

Kwara was represented at the award by the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Amina Ahmed el-Imam, and the Executive Secretary of the Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Nusirat Elelu.

Held at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Abuja, the event was attended by Vice President Kashim Shetimma (represented); Governors led by the NGF Chairman Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammed Ali Pate, and other top government officials.

Using a rigorous, independently developed performance monitoring framework– endorsed by all states — the Challenge assesses performance across key pillars: Governance, Financing, Quality Service Delivery, Use of Evidence, Sustainability, and Outcomes.

Kwara State has consistently invested in the basic healthcare sector, saying it will continue to bridge infrastructural and human resource gaps and upscale services for the good of the people.

The State recently approved another round of infrastructural upgrades for many PHCs while also hiring hundreds of new health workers to bridge personnel shortage.