Nigeria

The Constitution provides for social objectives under section 17, Chapter II. These include a duty for the State to direct its policy towards ensuring that there are adequate medical and health facilities for all persons (section 17.3.d) and that the health, safety, and welfare of all persons in employment are safeguarded and not endangered or abused (section 17.3.c). The Non-Justiciability of the entirety of Chapter II of the Nigerian Constitution was established in the 1980 case Okogie v. Attorney General Lagos State (1981).

The Constitution, under part I of the Second Schedule, enumerates areas that fall under the exclusive competence of the Federal Law (exclusive legislative list). Health legislation is not enumerated on this list which impliedly establishes it as a matter which the federal, state, and local tiers of government may legislate.

The main goal of the Nigeria National Health Policy 2016 is to strengthen Nigeria's health system to deliver quality, effective, efficient, equitable, accessible, affordable, acceptable, and comprehensive healthcare services to all Nigerians (page 17).

The policy prioritizes achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all Nigerians, with objectives including reducing maternal, neonatal, child, and adolescent morbidity and mortality, controlling communicable and non-communicable diseases, and improving health infrastructure and financing (pages 17-36).

The policy references several legislative and regulatory documents, including the Constitution (page 36), the National Health Act (page 13), and the National Tobacco Control Act (page 20).

The policy establishes specific actions related to health legislation and regulation. For example, under the orientation on prevention and control of NCDs, the policy provides for the implementation of the National Tobacco Control Act of 2015 (page 20). Under the injuries and emergencies orientation, the policy proposes to promote awareness of legislation on the prohibition of violence in Nigeria and to develop mechanisms to ensure the implementation of the National Health Act of 2014 (page 22). Furthermore, it establishes a need to modernize the Nigerian food safety regulatory framework in line with international best practices (page 24). In addition, under the medical tourism objective, the policy establishes the need to develop appropriate guidelines for the implementation of the provisions of the National Health Act on medical tourism (page 26).

No current health plan was located in the country. The latest available plan covers the period 2018 to 2022 ("Second National Strategic Health Development plan 2018-2022" ).