….strengthen the health sector through “One Voice, One Plan, One Budget.”
The Oyo State Government, through the Ministry of Health, has collaborated with the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) Office to organise a 3-day Joint Annual Review (JAR), Prioritisation, and Agenda Setting Workshop for the development of the 2026 Annual Operational Plan (AOP).
The strategic workshop, held at Plaza De Haruna, Oyo, brought together a cross-section of key health stakeholders, including heads of agencies and departments under the umbrella of the health family.
Also, the permanent secretaries across all zones, Programme managers, hospital heads, and implementing partners.
The gathering served as a comprehensive review of progress on the ongoing health Programme and a critical platform for setting priorities and aligning strategies toward a unified and evidence-based 2026 AOP.
Declaring the workshop open, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Oluwaserimi Ajetunmobi, emphasised the need for collaboration and alignment in the development of the AOP.
“We’re here for the Joint Annual Review (JAR) and also to prioritise and set the agenda for our 2026 AOP. All the health families have been invited to assess where we are, where we need to be, and how to align with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare,” she said.
Dr Ajetunmobi charged all MDAs to adopt the principles of the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) by setting realistic and achievable goals, aligning program implementation with the national framework, and ensuring uniform Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) across all states.
She stressed the importance of accurate data reporting and alignment, highlighting ongoing gaps and the need for improved data submission, particularly from private healthcare facilities, to ensure a comprehensive representation of health sector activities in the state.
In his remarks, the chairman of the Hospitals Management Board, Dr Akin Fagbemi, commended the strategic intent of the JAR and 2026 AOP agenda-setting, describing it as “another opportunity to set a sustainable agenda for healthcare delivery in the state.”
He reaffirmed the commitment of secondary health facilities to improve service delivery in alignment with the evolving AOP framework and international best practices.
Similarly, the executive secretary of the Oyo State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr Muyideen Olatunji, described the AOP as a critical precursor to any meaningful health sector budgeting.
“This year, we are adopting the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) to ensure that all health stakeholders are working toward a single, unified goal. After this workshop, the process will be cascaded to the local government level, with training on AOP development,” he said.
The Director of Health Planning, Research, and Statistics, Dr Adekunle Aremu, provided a recap of the workshop, which began with a performance review covering Q3 and Q4 of 2024 and Q1 and Q2 of 2025. The session then shifted to priority setting for the 2026 AOP, centred on three key pillars, which include the mandate of the state governor on healthcare delivery, the federal Ministry of Health’s expectations from the state, and the joint annual review of the last year, with a focus on areas where more still needs to be achieved.
The SWAp Desk Officer, Dr Oluwatunmise Adeagbo, emphasised the importance of the meeting in the 2026 AOP development process.
He noted that it builds on earlier efforts, including the adaptation of national guidelines and training of programme managers on the federal government’s AOP templates.
Dr Adeagbo disclosed that the federal government, through the SWAp Office, outlined 265 interventions for Oyo State under the Health Sector Strategic Blueprint. Of these, 189 apply to the state, and 142 have been prioritised in line with the healthcare vision of Governor Seyi Makinde.
Partners present at the meeting, including WHO, UNICEF, and GHSC-PSM, all commended the efforts of the government in ensuring a holistic plan for the health sector, promising more cooperation with the state.
