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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Federal Government has expressed concerns that more people might fall deeper into poverty on the account of one unexpected severe ailment that may attack them.
It observed that many Nigerians don’t have health insurance cover, hence they engaged in out-of-pocket payment which could drain them, financially, mentally, emotionally and otherwise.
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was guest at the two-day Primary Health Care (PHC) Summit with the theme “Re-imagining PHCs” lamented the dilapidated State of health care system in Nigeria as unraveled by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
He linked the development to the poor state of PHCs which is the foundation of health care service delivery in Nigeria.
The PHC Summit had in attendance Commissioners of health, traditional rulers, religious and community leaders, representatives from WHO, GAVI and several other donor agencies.
Prof. Osinbajo in his speech advocated a compulsory health insurance cover for all to enable them quit out of pocket payment for health services.
He stressed the need for countries to enjoy certain level of independence in terms of medicine production and administration as pointed out by COVID-19 pandemic.
He said: “The COVID-19 pandemic was an eye opener for all of us. Health challenges like COVID-19 can weaken the global economy as well as the national economy as witnessed at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic.
“The health system is only as strong as its primary health care system. Any investment in healthcare is a wise investment simply because fewer people would get sick and can contribute to the country’s economy.”
“It’s important that we reflect on PHC investments, particularly tracking the progress made so far such as the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF). We must continue to work towards a health care system that caters to the depressing health needs of all Nigerians.”
The Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) Dr. Faisal Shuaib, disclosed in his remarks, that plans have been concluded to overhaul the PHC system in Nigeria, thereby making its services more available and affordable to people.
He confirmed that the solution to health care challenges in Nigeria is to tackle PHC problems from the foundation by overhauling the entire system, hence re-imagining a broke system means a total turnaround.
He said that records indicated that each year, more children under the age of five die in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. “Nigerians have one of the lowest life expectancy in world at 54 years, and this could be attributed to poor health indices that is closely linked with suboptimal performances of the PHCs across the system.
“PHCs are faced with inadequate human capital. Only 22 percent of our PHCs has adequate health workers, while majority of health workers at the PHCs are casual staff. Without addressing these challenges we would not achieve the SDGs.
“N2.7 trn ($6.5b) is required over a 10 year period to get the right PHC standard. N1.3trn has already been invested in the health sector through partners. So, we are left with N1.4 trn funding gap that will be closed through partnerships from donor agencies and the private sector.
Representative of the Organized Private Sector (OPS), Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, in his speech, said that the private sector came up with a bold programme recently, and the goal was to built world class PHCs in all 774 LGAs and run it for five years.
He said that such interventions would go a long way in changing the narratives and fortunes of PHCs, and provide opportunities for people at rural communities to get quality and affordable medical services at the level.
Minister of health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, in his remarks, proposed that subnational governments should provide resources, in addition to the Federal Government as well as donor, development partners, private sector to enrich the pool of resources for the PHC system.
He said: “Our 10 year strategic plan for re-imagining PHCs is based on four points agenda to include primary health care and ways to mobilize resources to standardize PHCs.
“We intend to implement strategies that work and think about different ones and prioritize them. The agenda include improving service delivery. In order to re-imagine and transform PHCs, we have to bring the PHCs up to speed, and human resources is required to drive the PHCs.”
Minister of Finance, Zainab Usman, in her presentations said the financial allocation to health sector was critical in determining the reach, availability, and affordability of health services to those that need them
She encouraged the informal sector to participate in the health insurance leveraging the different emerging community-based insurance schemes.
