Broadcast journalist and women’s rights advocate, Doosuur Tion, has challenged Nigerian leaders to make women’s health a national priority, urging the Federal Government to emulate the United States’ latest policy initiative aimed at improving healthcare for women and girls.
Her intervention comes amid persistent concerns over maternal healthcare, reproductive health conditions and the financial barriers that prevent many Nigerian women from receiving timely medical attention.
Tion, a women’s rights advocate and founder of the Women Magnifier initiative, made the call while reacting to US President Donald Trump’s reported October 19, 2026, Executive Order establishing a Women’s Health Division within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and a White House Women’s Health Task Force.
The initiative, which she said was championed by US First Lady Melania Trump, seeks to strengthen research, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care for women and girls throughout their lives.
According to Tion, the policy’s focus on maternal health, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, infertility, menopause, mental health, heart disease, cancer, stroke, osteoporosis and other chronic conditions offers Nigeria an opportunity to rethink its approach to women’s healthcare.
She questioned why Nigeria, despite its inclination towards adopting Western policies and practices, could not emulate a healthcare initiative that places women’s wellbeing at the centre of national development.
“Can Nigeria follow suit?” she asked, stressing that Nigerian women continue to face significant barriers to accessing quality and affordable healthcare.
Tion lamented that many women suffering from uterine fibroids could not afford treatment, while mothers continued to struggle with access to quality maternal healthcare. She also raised concerns over breast cancer and the prohibitive cost of treating other critical health conditions.
She argued that Nigeria needed stronger medical research, early diagnosis, improved treatment facilities and better access to essential medicines to address the challenges confronting women and girls.
The advocate called on political leaders and policymakers to move beyond rhetoric and commit adequate funding to women’s healthcare, insisting that the health needs of women deserved deliberate attention in national policy and budgetary allocations.
For Tion, the American initiative offers a compelling example of how governments can use policy to address longstanding gaps in women’s health research and medical intervention.
She maintained that Nigeria must develop a similar commitment to improving healthcare outcomes for women, particularly those who cannot afford costly medical procedures and treatments.
“Women’s health deserves to be a national priority in Nigeria too,” she declared, challenging the government to take concrete steps towards a healthcare system that delivers affordable, accessible and effective services to women and girls.
