Stakeholders across government institutions, civil society organisations, youth networks, development partners, community leaders and the media on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, gathered in Lagos for the official launch of the GoFundPHC Campaign, a citizen-driven advocacy and accountability initiative aimed at strengthening Primary Health Care (PHC) systems across Lagos State.

The campaign, spearheaded by the Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Initiative (PHSAI) in collaboration with other consortium partners, is designed to mobilise improved financing, transparency, performance tracking and active community participation to reposition PHCs as functional, trusted and affordable first points of care for residents of the state.

Speaking at the media briefing, Barr. Ayo Adebusoye, Chairman of PHSAI, acknowledged and commended the Lagos State Government for its ongoing health sector reforms and investments, including efforts to improve health infrastructure, expand health insurance coverage, strengthen primary care governance and reposition the health system towards Universal Health Coverage.

According to him, these reforms demonstrate growing political will and recognition of Primary Health Care as the foundation of an effective health system. However, he stressed that infrastructure expansion must now be matched with stronger accountability, transparent financing and measurable service delivery outcomes at the community level.

Adebusoye described Primary Health Care as the closest and most critical level of health service delivery to the people, serving as the first point of contact between communities and the health system. He noted that PHC plays a central role in disease prevention, maternal and child health, epidemic preparedness and the attainment of Universal Health Coverage.

Despite ongoing investments, he said Lagos State continues to face significant PHC system gaps, including shortages of skilled health workers, weak service readiness, inconsistent access to power and water, limited 24-hour services, uneven distribution of facilities across wards, heavy reliance on out-of-pocket spending and low public confidence in government-owned PHC facilities.

He cited available evidence showing that only about two-thirds of the required PHC workforce is currently in place, many wards still lack functional PHC facilities, and more than half of residents seek care from private and informal providers. According to him, these challenges expose households to preventable illnesses, financial hardship and avoidable deaths, while placing undue pressure on secondary and tertiary health facilities.

Adebusoye emphasised that infrastructure investments alone cannot address these challenges without sustainable financing, strong local governance, transparent use of funds and accountable service delivery. He explained that the GoFundPHC Campaign was established to respond to these gaps by mobilising citizens—particularly young people and community actors—to demand increased and better-managed investment in Primary Health Care.

He said the campaign will track PHC-related funding, document service readiness at facility level, amplify community voices, promote data-driven decision-making and support constructive engagement between citizens and government institutions. Through digital platforms and grassroots mobilisation, the initiative aims to rebuild trust in public PHC facilities and ensure they effectively serve community needs.

At the core of the campaign, organisers said, is a clear call to action directed at all levels of government and key stakeholders. GoFundPHC is calling on the Lagos State Government to deepen ongoing health reforms by strengthening stewardship of the PHC system through transparent financing, routine public reporting on PHC performance, stronger supervision, accelerated digitisation and enforcement of service standards.

The campaign also calls for improved coordination and partnership from the state level down to Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to ensure that policies, funding commitments and reform efforts translate into visible and measurable improvements at the community level.

In particular, GoFundPHC urged Local Government and LCDA chairmen, as frontline custodians of Primary Health Care, to take direct responsibility and accountability for the functionality and performance of PHCs within their jurisdictions. This includes prioritising PHC in annual budgets, ensuring timely release and proper utilisation of funds, investing in the deployment and retention of skilled health workers, supporting incentives and accommodation to enable 24-hour services, and strengthening community accountability structures such as Ward Development Committees and functional feedback mechanisms at facility level.

The campaign further called on communities, civil society organisations and youth groups to actively monitor PHC facilities, report service gaps, participate in community accountability structures and engage decision-makers constructively to improve local health services. Development partners and the media were urged to align technical support with system priorities, track public commitments and sustain attention on PHC financing, service quality and performance outcomes.

Organisers emphasised that while the Lagos State Government provides overall stewardship, policy direction, regulation and system-wide coordination, Local Governments and LCDAs remain the engine room of Primary Health Care delivery. Strengthening PHC, they noted, requires shared ownership and a functional partnership framework in which the state ensures standards, oversight and financing systems, while Local Governments translate these into well-resourced, transparent and responsive services at ward and community levels.

The GoFundPHC Campaign highlighted that strong Primary Health Care systems reduce pressure on hospitals, lower household health costs, improve maternal and child survival, enhance epidemic preparedness and rebuild public trust in governance. The initiative, according to its promoters, is committed to moving beyond awareness to sustained citizen action that delivers measurable improvements in PHC financing, functionality, accountability and transparency.

As part of its core advocacy demands, the campaign is calling for dedicated and increased funding for Primary Health Care at state and LGA/LCDA levels; full transparency and public accountability for PHC financing, including open reporting on the use of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and other health allocations; urgent closure of human resource gaps; improved service readiness in all PHC facilities; functional community accountability structures; the constitution of effective and non-partisan Local Government Health Authorities; and routine performance tracking and digitisation of PHC services.

Those in attendance at the launch included Abiodun Ajayi, Convener of the GoFundPHC Campaign; Rev. Bola Nuga, Secretary of the LASAM Sub-Advocacy Committee; Adeboluwatife Adekanye, State Team Lead at LISDEL; Olaolu Morakinyo, Programme Lead at PHSAI; and John Ojetunde, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at PHSAI.

The GoFundPHC Campaign concluded with a call on all stakeholders to join the movement to ensure that every ward in Lagos State has a funded, functional and accountable Primary Health Care centre that truly serves the needs of the people.