EXAMINATION OF LEGAL BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE SERVICE IN NIGERIA
Abstract
legal barriers that hindered access to available and
affordable healthcare services in Nigeria. It investigated the constitutional,
statutory, and institutional frameworks governing healthcare delivery, with
particular focus on the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as
amended), the National Health Act 2014, and the National Health Insurance
Authority Act 2022. The research analysed how weak legal enforceability,
fragmented institutional mandates, inadequate health financing, corruption, and
socio-cultural disparities collectively constrained equitable access to healthcare. It
also assessed Nigeria’s obligations under international and regional human rights
instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the African Charter on
Human and Peoples’ Rights. The study adopted a doctrinal research methodology,
relying on primary sources—including statutes, constitutional provisions, and
international instruments—and secondary sources such as academic journals,
textbooks, policy documents, and institutional reports. This methodological
approach enabled a qualitative evaluation of the legal principles, policy
frameworks, and institutional practices shaping healthcare access in Nigeria.
Findings revealed that although Nigeria possessed several legal and institutional
mechanisms designed to enhance healthcare delivery, significant barriers persisted
due to the non-justiciability of socio-economic rights, weak enforcement of existing
health laws, inequitable financing systems, fragmented institutional coordination,
and persistent governance deficiencies. The study further identified prospects for
improving healthcare access through constitutional reform, stronger enforcement
of health legislation, expansion of insurance coverage, technological innovation,
and enhanced community engagement. It concluded that meaningful progress in
achieving equitable healthcare access depended on comprehensive legal reforms,
institutional strengthening, improved financing mechanisms, and the effective
domestication of international health obligations. The research contributed to
existing scholarship by offering a detailed legal analysis of healthcare barriers in
Nigeria and proposing actionable reforms capable of advancing universal health
coverage and the realization of the right to health.
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