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By Beifoh Osewele
Professor of General Surgery, Vincent Odigie, has called for a stronger and more inclusive universal health insurance system to shield Nigerians from prohibitive healthcare expenses, warning that poverty has become the greatest barrier to accessing quality medical care in the country.
Delivering the 366th Inaugural Lecture of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), the veteran surgeon said many Nigerians die not because hospitals lack the capacity to treat them, but because they cannot afford the cost of healthcare.
“Late presentation is not as a result of ignorance. It is as a result of poverty,” Odigie declared, drawing from his 46 years of experience as a surgeon.
He maintained that an effective universal health insurance scheme would protect millions of vulnerable Nigerians from crippling out-of-pocket medical bills and ensure that no citizen is denied life-saving treatment on account of financial hardship.
The professor also advocated technology-driven emergency healthcare, proposing an “Uber ambulance” system that would allow patients to summon emergency medical services at the touch of a button, with the cost covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme.
“A sick patient should be able to call an Uber ambulance, and the National Health Insurance Scheme should pay,” he said.
According to him, emergency medical care should never depend on whether patients or their relatives have cash at hand, lamenting that many lives are lost while families struggle to raise transport fares or hospital deposits.
Odigie further challenged Nigerian universities to establish drug-manufacturing units to drive pharmaceutical research, promote local production of essential medicines and reduce the country’s dependence on imported drugs.
“There should be a drug manufacturing unit in every university,” he recommended, adding that universities must evolve beyond teaching and research to become centres for practical solutions to national challenges.
