FG reassures commitment to increased funding of health care as a fundamental human right

The Federal Government has reassured Nigerians of it’s commitment to investing in health care as a fundamental human right.

This was made known, Thursday by the Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Health, Salma Ibrahim Anas at a webinar organized by Nigeria Health Watch in conjunction with The Conversation Africa.

The webinar which was themed “Nigeria’s new administration: Setting the health agenda,” was to discuss Nigeria’s new administration’s health agenda, the trajectory toward achieving the government’s health manifesto, and its implications for a strengthened health system.

Anas while speaking, said the President will prioritise health for all Nigerians, make it a fundamental right for citizens, and use it to promote the nation’s security.

She explained that before the 2023 elections, stakeholders, including herself, made deliberate efforts to ensure the inclusion of health in the country’s political agenda, culminating, among others, in Tinubu’s renaming the Health Minister’s office as the Coordinating Minister of Health and creation of Anas office – the Special Adviser on Health (to the President) which is the first of it’s kind in Nigeria.

Anas argued that Tinubu’s health agenda for Nigerians is a renewal of Hope in the country’s health sector adding that it aims to achieve health for all through an efficient and effective universal health care coverage system, using the continuum model as contained in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to her, the current state of the country’s health is regrettable and promised a rapid turnaround under Tinubu.

“We are making a slow progress over a long period of time. In some areas, we are not even making progress. We are almost stagnated, with no progress as the trends remain the same despite all efforts.

“We have witnessed significant efforts in the past ten years, either by government at the national level or the sub-national level, and huge investments by our development partners, donors and all relevant stakeholders. But unfortunately, they have not given us the desirable results. So, what is wrong? How do we address this? These are the questions that we ask ourselves.”

The Special adviser also blamed the “weak health system” on the outbreak of diseases, including diphtheria, from which the nation suffered major blows in the past weeks.

She said, “This administration ably led by President Bola Tinubu strongly believes that Nigeria deserves quality health. The overall goal is to move Nigeria closer to the universal health coverage aspiration with a key focus to reduce the huge gaps between those in need and the use of services.

“As we all know, experiences have shown that quality of services is very poor, especially at the primary healthcare level and the unregulated private sector, where the majority of Nigerians access services.”

“The Renewed Health Agenda offers several laudable changes to the health system, including an increase in public health financing, prioritising the poor and vulnerable.”

She said the agenda focused on new funding for the expansion of PHC, adding that the funding would be used for the purpose for which it is made available.

Other focus areas are health governance and institutional reforms, increased budgetary allocation for health for high impacts, increase in national insurance coverage to cover a significant per cent of the population, presenting the National Health Insurance Health Authority (NHIA) for better performance, and improving on existing private-public partnerships.

Others include Delivery of integrated, comprehensive health care services, boosting preventive health care services, Linking the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of care, Guaranteeing human resources for health,
Reducing brain drain, ending rivalries among workers and promoting local manufacture of essential health commodities.

Meanwhile, panellists at the webinar including Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health in the 9th Assembly, lent their voices to the need for the Tinubu government to raise the bar in health governance, funding and services.

Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health in the 9th Assembly and a professor of Paediatric Dentistry at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Morenike Folayan amongst others urged the Federal Government to increase its contribution to the National Health Act from one per cent of the consolidated fund from one per cent to two per cent.

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