Nigeria: reforms to nursing and midwifery regulation
Nigeria has launched the “National Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (NSDNM) 2025–2030,” a reform framework developed by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (FMOH) in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and funded by the UK’s Department of Health and Social Care. The strategy seeks to strengthen the nursing and midwifery workforce by boosting education and certification, improving regulation and ethics, expanding deployment and retention (especially in underserved regions), and enhancing leadership, governance, and data systems. Key initiatives cited include increasing nursing school enrolment from about 28,000 to 115,000 students, approving recruitment of 20,000 health workers (60% of whom will be nurses and midwives), and implementing a national retention plan. The reform positions nurses and midwives—who make up over half of Nigeria’s health workforce—as central to advancing primary care access and the country’s progress toward universal health coverage.