Uniting to Combat NTDs says timely state budget releases could help Nigeria leverage an additional $7 million for neglected tropical disease programs in 2027, linking a potential expansion of partner funding to budget execution.
At a late-October meeting in Abuja, the group said the Federal Ministry of Health reported that 23 states had established dedicated NTD budget lines for 2026. Uniting to Combat NTDs’ Nov. 5 statement did not give a combined total for those lines or say how much had been released.
For the 2025 financial year, the group said 19 of Nigeria’s 36 states had dedicated NTD lines totaling more than $1 million combined. Kano State also committed an additional 100 million naira, valued at $75,000 in the statement, for snakebite envenoming programs.
Amos Magaji, chair of the House Committee on Health, described budget releases as “very poor” at the meeting and said efforts were being made to prioritize NTD spending, according to the group.
The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare said in an October 2025 announcement that NTDs affect more than 120 million Nigerians, linking their prevalence to poor access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. The World Health Organization’s African Region describes NTDs as a group of 21 diseases and conditions. It said 22 countries in the region had eliminated at least one by December 2025. The WHO says the diseases affect more than 1.5 billion people worldwide, with Africa accounting for over one-third of the burden, and that they primarily affect impoverished communities.
A Deloitte analysis commissioned by the END Fund estimated net productivity gains for Nigeria of $18.5 billion to $18.6 billion from 2023 to 2030 if medicines were donated, and $16.5 billion if the country paid for them. Those are modeled economic gains, not funds available to state budgets. Uniting to Combat NTDs identified the 2027 budget cycle as the next opportunity for timely state releases to support Nigeria’s pursuit of the additional partner financing.
