A civil society organisation, Centre for Social Justices (CSJs) and other stakeholders in the health sector have reiterated their call for a robust funding of the sector.
The CSJ’s Lead Director, Mr Eze Onyekpere and the stakeholders, made the call in Abuja at the opening session of a two-day workshop on innovative and alternative funding of the health sector.
The workshop was organised by CSJs with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), under its palladium project – “Strengthening Civil Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE).
The stakeholders noted that a robust funding of the health sector would hasten the country’s 2030 target of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all Nigerians.
However, Onyekpere stated that Nigeria’s health indicators were poor and could not be compared to countries on the same level of development with it, noting that the country was very far off on the road to UHC.
According to him, part of the key challenges to this is the poor funding of the sector in terms of overall financial input, as well as inefficiency and waste in the sector.
He disclosed that the indices meant that the country was not having more health from available resources.
The lead director stated that the idea of the workshop was to canvass for more money for health and more health from the already available resources.
He said that the workshop was also to brainstorm on how the waste, inefficiency and corruption in the health sector could be cut down, looking at alternative sources of funding beyond the budget, to provide more forces for the sector.
“This is why we are discussing the issue of compulsory health insurance which if fully implemented, would generate more resources for the sector beyond what ever the Federal Government and state would budget.
“We are also looking at the prospect where Federal Ministry of Health had fully absolved its budget, it will implement the capital budget.
“We are also going to look at the idea of establishing health development bank which will be a development bank that will provide medium and long term credit at single digit interest rate, specifically focusing on the health sector.
“It will be used for upgrading of health infrastructure, health equipment and technologies that can make sure Nigeria’s hospitals compete with those Nigerian leaders go wherever they go on medical tourism.
Mrs Bolanle Ernest-Egbe, Head, Client Service, Health Maintenance Organisation (HMO), appreciated CSJs’ constant contribution on health sector, particularly for driving the advancement of health insurance.
She said that CSJs’ efforts in encouraging Nigerians for health insurance was well thought-out and had created awareness to millions of Nigerians to embrace the scheme.
“A lot of people are not aware of the health insurance scheme that is available to all even with the mandatory nature of the new Act that was enacted in 2002.
“With this advocacy programme by CSJs, we have been able to reach millions of people and create awareness that was necessary for them to buy-in into the health insurance scheme, it is a long task, but it is a good step.
“We sincerely appreciate the CSJs for this drive, for creating the platform for us; if this platform keeps on going this way, a lot of people will have better knowledge of health insurance industry.
“We should not be weary about the pace at which we are going; it may be small but it is a sure pace that will eventually pay at the end by having the UHC for Nigerians,” she stressed.
Ernest-Egbe, however, stated that there was still need for more advocacy and enlightenment on the health insurance, adding that enlightenment for beneficiaries of health insurance was not yet enough.
She said that a lot of beneficiaries on the scheme were not well informed about the benefits attached to the scheme or how to go about it to enforce their right.
According to her, the Federal Government needs to do more, and not just to pass the law on Health Insurance Act, and that they need to educate the public on the rights and benefits of the scheme.
She, however, called for collaboration between every government agencies and HMOs for frequent enlightenment and education to their staff, saying that this would surely bridge the gap between knowledge and benefits.
The workshop had in attendance representatives from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Group, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, and faith-based organisations.
Others are representatives from the media, traditional civil society organisations, HMOs, ministry of health, and health officials from different states – Sokoto, Adamawa, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Imo, Rivers and Ekiti.
