Legislative network for UHC will work to guarantee health coverage for all citizens – Saraki
1 out of every 8 preventable deaths in the world among children under five occur in Nigeria, and Nigeria has the greatest number of new HIV infections among children in the world—an estimated 41,000—roughly equivalent to the next eight countries combined. Sadly, the poor are mostly affected by healthcare services they cannot afford.
Nigeria with a population of about 170million and a growth rate of 2.5% is the most populous country in Africa and the 8th most populous in the world. Nigeria’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world with growth rates of 6.4% in 2007 and 7.4% in 2011 and The World Bank recently foresaw Nigeria’s economic growth to 1.2 per cent for 2017. The World Bank disclosed this in its June 2017 Global Economic Prospects report, saying: “Nigeria is forecast to go from recession to a 1.2 percent growth rate in 2017, gaining speed to 2.4 percent in 2018.”
In a research carried out by Solomon Olakojo, a Professor, and others, it revealed that 10% increase in health expenditure per person can lead to over 20% declines in the rates of deaths among babies and young children, and this will in turn improve life expectancy. When life expectancy is increased for one year for instance, it will bring about a huge change in the country and one essential factor in bringing about change is the NHIS.
The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is established under Act 35 of 1999 Constitution by the Federal Government of Nigeria to improve the health of all Nigerians at an affordable cost.
The advantages if properly executed are enormous especially as it ensures monetary safety to the populace in case of ailing health. The plan is robust in the sense that it involves agendas that cover formal sector workers, informal sector workers and the susceptible faction. The idea basically is to ensure universal health coverage and access to adequate and affordable healthcare in order to improve the health status of Nigerians, especially for those participating in the various programmes/products of the scheme.
The question however is, “Has this been the case in Nigeria?” According to WHO, A first important observation is that many of the world’s 1.3 billion people on very low incomes still do not have access to effective and affordable drugs, surgeries and other interventions because of weaknesses in the health financing system.
WHO therefore submits that achievement of the goal of universal coverage is contingent on the underlying institutional design of the three health financing functions (collection, pooling and purchasing/provision). WHO therefore proposes to integrate the concept of institutional design into a conceptual framework for assessing health financing system reform towards universal coverage.
For WHO, there is no universal formula. Indeed, for many countries, it will take some years to achieve universal coverage and the path is complex.
In trying to simplify this complexity, the president of the Senate of Nigeria, Bukola Saraki, also a medical practitioner believes in the possibility of access to health. He recently launched the National Assembly Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage. In his words, “This means a lot to me, because when I was the Governor of Kwara State, we worked to establish the Community Insurance Scheme, which is on track to guarantee access to health to over 60% of Kwarans by 2018. Healthcare coverage should be the right of all Nigerian citizens. I strongly believe that it is possible. Unfortunately, others that came before us were not able to achieve it. This is why it is up to us to make the difference.”
“Moving forward, the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage will work to guarantee health coverage for all citizens. Even if all that we can achieve is a healthcare system that covers immunization, malaria and antenatal, we would have gone a long way in solving most of Nigeria’s most critical healthcare issues.” Adding that “This is why I have asked the Honourable Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, to let the National Assembly know what the cost for Universal Healthcare for all Nigerians will be. This will allow us to know what the Federal Government will pay, what the States will pay and what our international partners and the private sector will chip in.” Saraki said.
“Most importantly, when the 2018 budget comes, we will work to ensure that the healthcare sector receives the 1% from the Consolidated Revenue Fund in accordance with the National Health Act of 2014. This will set up a national Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHPF) that will provide all Nigerians with access to basic health care services.” He concludes.
“The National Assembly Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage is a welcome development, policies are good but it is implementation that matters. This is a WHO recommendation so it is nice to know we are giving it priority however the question is: What does this mean to the average man on the street? The way UHC works is that the individual also contributes as little as 5 percent, the question again is: Will the average man be willing to even pay the 5 percent?” Femi Olaleye, Founder/CEO Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, said.
According to the World Bank, about 750 out of every 1,000 Naira spent on health in Nigeria comes directly from Nigerian citizens’ pockets. If properly implemented, UHC can help tackle the challenges of receiving adequate healthcare, permeating through the entire country even at the grassroots.
Kemi Ajumobi