President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been tasked by stakeholders to leverage existing policy framework, technology and digitalisation in the pursuit to achieve campaign promise of 40 per cent healthcare coverage within the first two years of his administration.
This was the consensus at a symposium organised by Avon HMO to mark its 10th anniversary in the country with the theme: The role of data and digitalisation in accelerating our country’s progress on universal health coverage.
While commending the president on the recent economic policy drives, Prof. Mohammed Nasir Sambo, Director General, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) noted that the pathway for Nigeria to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has been defined through the necessary policy framework provided by the NHIA Act.
He said: “In line with the progressive thinking of this administration, I believe that some of the gains will be channeled towards the promise to cover at least 40% of Nigeria in the next two years. We already have the enabling legislation, the National Health Insurance Authority Act signed into law in 2022 provides the necessary framework for the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) which addresses two critical requirement for success. First is mandatory or automatic participation and second is a sustainable mechanism to cover who cannot afford to pay. Universal health is critical for health security.
In his keynote address, Sambo who spoke on the theme; Nigeria’s universal health coverage journey, required policy direction to enable the new national economic agenda, also commended Avon HMO as a signpost for the much needed multi-sectorial collaboration that will help Nigeria accelerate achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
“Our policy direction must embrace digital technology and innovation. Technology can revolutionize healthcare, enhance access to services and improve health information management. Policies should support the adoption of electronic health records, telemedicine, mobile health applications and data-driven decision-making. Embracing this advancement will help promote efficiency, transparency and accountability within our health system. It will ensure that resources are well utilized to reach those who need them the most.
“Finally, achieving universal health coverage requires a multi-sectorial collaborative approach, a policy direction must focus on partnership among government agencies and the private sector stakeholders, civil society organizations as well as international development partners. Nigeria stands at a crucial junction in its journey towards attaining UHC as we embark on a new national development agenda, we must recognize the explicable link between health and economic development. Policy direction must be bold, visionary and responsive to the need of our diverse population by strengthening health systems, expanding financial risk protection, prioritizing prevention, embracing technology and fostering collaboration.”
While reinforcing technology as critical pillar in fast-tracking the implementation of the National Health Insurance Act to achieve UHC, Adesimbo Ukiri, Avon HMO, CEO, said: “Healthcare is data intensive and lends itself well to data analytics and artificial intelligence. These are buzzwords that are being used across different sectors. Healthcare more than any other stand to benefit from all these innovation.”
“Data and digitisation is going to be an accelerator for our country to achieve universal coverage. Like the Director General of National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has said, it is one of the areas we need to focus our attention on, including the attention of the new administration of our country. For it to be effective, its usage must be strategic and judicious. There are very important elements of that implementation that we must all bear in mind.”
Moderated by Adesimbo Ukiri, Avon HMO, CEO, the symposium also featured a panel comprising eggheads in the sector such as Dr Sola Pitan, Medical Director/ CEO, Orile Agege General Hospital, Dr Adedamola Dada, Medical/ Director/ CEO, Federal Medical Centre, Ebute Metta, Lagos, Joseph Amakurugbonwo, Acting Director, Department of Information and Communication Technology, NHIA, Dr Akinbiyi Oke, Acting CEO, Avon Medical Practice, Damilola Aloba, Strategy and Transactions Partner, West Africa, Ernst & Young and Annabelle Neame, Assitant Vice President, HCA Healthcare UK, New Markets & Innovations.