Calls are growing for comprehensive measures to improve healthcare in Nigeria, with the incoming president Bola Tinubu urged to prioritize strengthening healthcare systems, promoting preventive healthcare, and ensuring access to essential medicines and skilled healthcare professionals. Tinubu is set to inherit a healthcare system with inadequate funding, poor healthcare infrastructure, and an acute shortage of healthcare professionals, in addition to a high burden of out-of-pocket expenditure. Stakeholders are urging increased government funding for healthcare and a comprehensive approach that combines government and private sector efforts. Universal health coverage is also seen as a key issue, with private sector engagement being necessary given that about 50% of people depend on the private sector for their healthcare. Digital health technologies are also seen as an important tool to improve healthcare access and quality in Nigeria.
Health Care: Calls for Universal Coverage and Strengthening of Health Sector Growing Ahead of Tinubu Government’s Inauguration
Ahead of the inauguration of the next president, Bola Tinubu, calls for comprehensive actions to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare sector and broaden access to quality care are increasing.
Tinubu is set to inherit a healthcare system that has been plagued with decades of failed promises and underfunding, as well as severe staffing shortages in primary healthcare, general hospitals, and teaching hospitals due to the unrelenting departure of healthcare professionals from the country.
According to recent reports, nearly 90% of Nigerians are burdened with out-of-pocket expenditure, which is particularly pronounced when treating chronic illnesses with high treatment costs.
Healthcare stakeholders have urged the president-elect to prioritize the promotion of preventive healthcare, strengthen healthcare systems, and ensure access to essential medicines and skilled healthcare professionals to avoid another four years of low progress in health indicators.
Pamela Ajayi, the president of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), believes that a comprehensive approach combining government efforts and private sector potential is necessary to tackle the issue of funding. She called on the government to increase public sector expenditure in healthcare from 8% to 15% in line with the Abuja declaration of 2001 and sign the policy draft on incentivizing the healthcare industry to attract private sector investment. She also emphasized the need to effectively extend the national health insurance coverage to all Nigerians.
Zakari Osheku, the executive director of the Primary Healthcare Initiative, also stressed the need for advancing universal health coverage in Nigeria. During an advocacy, he highlighted the issue of some enrollees under the basic health care provision fund being confronted with health facilities without basic provisions for drugs.
In summary, the incoming government of Bola Tinubu must address the healthcare sector’s long-standing challenges in funding, staffing, and access to quality care. The government must also prioritize the promotion of preventive healthcare, strengthen healthcare systems, and ensure access to essential medicines and skilled healthcare professionals to improve health indicators in Nigeria.
Private Sector Engagement Key to Strengthening Healthcare System in Nigeria, says Stakeholder
According to Leke Oshuniyi, the chairman of the Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN), private sector engagement is necessary in addition to political leadership, especially since about 50% of Nigerians depend on the private sector for their healthcare needs. Oshuniyi believes that a country’s economy has a direct impact on its healthcare sector. Therefore, if a country can provide basic social amenities such as water, electricity, good drainage, and roads, it can automatically improve health.
Stakeholders are calling on the incoming government of Bola Tinubu to prioritize the development and retention of skilled healthcare professionals, as well as encourage those in the diaspora to return. They are also seeking adequate compensation and motivation for healthcare professionals to stay and work in the country, particularly in rural areas where the need is significant.
In terms of healthcare infrastructure and technology, Nigeria needs to focus on more effective utilization of existing healthcare infrastructure through rehabilitation or public-private partnerships to ensure they are equipped with modern medical equipment and technology. The use of digital health technology, including electronic health records, telemedicine, and mobile health applications, can also help improve healthcare access and quality in Nigeria. These technologies enable remote consultations, facilitate patient tracking, and improve access to health information.
Demands for access to essential medicines are also increasing, given its importance in achieving health security and the successful treatment and management of diseases. Some stakeholders believe that the challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the need for Nigeria to focus on the local production of affordable, high-quality medicines to ensure that they are always available to the public.
In conclusion, private sector engagement and political leadership are essential to strengthen Nigeria’s healthcare system. The incoming government must prioritize the development and retention of skilled healthcare professionals, effective utilization of existing healthcare infrastructure, and the use of digital health technology to improve healthcare access and quality. Additionally, Nigeria must focus on the local production of affordable, high-quality medicines to ensure that they are always available to the public.
Calls to Strengthen Nigeria’s Healthcare Sector Ahead of Tinubu’s Inauguration
As the inauguration of Nigeria’s next president, Bola Tinubu, draws near, calls for comprehensive actions to strengthen the country’s healthcare sector and improve access to quality care are increasing.
Tinubu is set to inherit a primary healthcare system that is largely run-down, general hospitals that are understaffed and of poor capacity, and teaching hospitals that have been severely impacted by the unrelenting exit of essential health workers out of the country. Additionally, approximately 90% of the population is burdened by out-of-pocket expenditure, a grim reality that is more pronounced when treating chronic illnesses with exorbitant treatment costs.
Stakeholders have called on the president-elect to prioritize the strengthening of healthcare systems, promoting preventive healthcare, and ensuring access to essential medicines and skilled healthcare professionals to avoid another four years of low progress in health indicators. To accomplish this, they have suggested that the issue of funding should be tackled through a comprehensive approach that combines government effort with private sector potential.
Pamela Ajayi, the president of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), has suggested that the government should increase public sector expenditure in healthcare from the current 8% to 15% in compliance with the Abuja declaration of 2001. She also urged the government to sign the policy draft on incentivizing the healthcare industry to attract private sector investment and extend the national health insurance coverage to all Nigerians. The NHIA Act of May 19, 2022, aims to eliminate the problem of out-of-pocket expenditure, according to Ajayi. She believes that once the act is fully implemented, all healthcare in Nigeria will be accessible through mandatory and obligatory health insurance.
Zakari Osheku, the executive director of the Primary Healthcare Initiative, highlighted the need for advancing universal health coverage in Nigeria during an advocacy. A field assessment by the organization revealed that some enrollees under the basic health care provision fund were confronted with health facilities without basic provision for drugs. Osheku emphasized that while political leadership is critical, private sector engagement is also necessary in an era when about 50% of Nigerians depend on the private sector for their healthcare needs.
In addition to financing solutions, stakeholders expect Tinubu’s administration to prioritize skilled healthcare workforce development and retention, as well as encourage the return of diaspora healthcare professionals. Adequate compensation and motivation are required to ensure that healthcare professionals remain and work in the country, especially in rural areas where the need is great.
On the healthcare infrastructure and technology front, Nigeria must focus on more effective utilization of existing healthcare infrastructure through rehabilitation or public-private partnerships to ensure that they are equipped with modern medical equipment and technology. The use of digital health technology, including electronic health records, telemedicine, and mobile health applications, can also help improve healthcare access and quality in Nigeria.
In conclusion, private sector engagement and political leadership are critical to strengthening Nigeria’s healthcare system. The incoming government must prioritize the development and retention of skilled healthcare professionals, effective utilization of existing healthcare infrastructure, and the use of digital health technology to improve healthcare access and quality. Additionally, Nigeria must focus on the local production of affordable, high-quality medicines to ensure that they are always available to the public.
Calls for holistic actions to improve healthcare in Nigeria are growing, with stakeholders urging the incoming president, Bola Tinubu, to prioritize strengthening healthcare systems, promoting preventive healthcare, and ensuring access to essential medicines and skilled healthcare professionals. Tinubu would inherit a healthcare system that is largely decrepit, with inadequate funding, poor healthcare infrastructure, and an acute shortage of healthcare professionals, as well as a high burden of out-of-pocket expenditure. The Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN) and the Primary Healthcare Initiative have called for increased government funding for healthcare, with HFN President Pamela Ajayi emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach that combines government and private sector efforts to tackle the issue of underfunding. Zakari Osheku, the executive director of Primary Healthcare Initiative, has emphasized the importance of universal health coverage in Nigeria, with private sector engagement being necessary given that about 50% of people depend on the private sector for their healthcare.
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