AEIG advocates improved funding for healthcare in Nigeria

Blessing Bature, Abuja 

In order to improve the healthcare system in Nigeria, a Non-governmental organisation under the ages of Abiodun Essiet Initiative for girls has stressed the need for policies and strategies that would improve funding for the sector.

Founder of the NGO, Abiodun Essiet who disclosed this during the two years' memorial lecture of Brig. Dr. Victor Udoeka Essiet who died as a result of poor facilities health care in hospital.

Narrating her ordeal, she said when the husband was ill, he was taken to four different hospitals including general hospitals, but he was turned back because those hospitals had no bed space, and barely had proper equipment and facilities like oxypen to manage the situation.

According to her, it is the experience of millions of people in Nigeria on a daily basis and the health condition of the patient usually get worse or even lose their lives in the process of commuting from one hospital to another.

She said the Nigeria health system has performed woefully against all vital health indices, trailing behind many African countries despite its enormous potentials, saying In 2005, the pervading global inequality in access to healthcare prompted the World Health Assembly to pronounce a resolution on Universal Health Coverage.

"UCH rests on two essential bedrocks: equitable access to quality healthcare and protection from financial risk. The prevailing poor health indices and extreme poverty in the sub-Sahara African region, especially in Nigeria, have been attributed to inequality in access and financial protection in healthcare utilization. 

"The Nigerian government expenditure on health is less than nearly those of any country in the World. Even after committing to the Abuja Declaration of 15% budgetary allocation to health, both past and present administrations are yet to implement it. The situation is worse in the states and local government. This reflects the value the government places on health and it is the most significant challenge faced in achieving efficient and effective health service delivery in Nigeria", she said.

Also speaking, Former Director-General Ministry of Defence Health Implementation Program, who is currently Chief of Medicine, Defence Medical Centre Abuja, Maj Gen (rtd) Dr. AE Life AJEMBA said Gross underfunding is a serious social cankerworm devouring the fabrics of the Nigerian health institutions. As a result of the lean budgetary allocation to the health sector, the Nigerian health system is below the World Health Organisation Standard of 15% of the total budget.

He noted that the poor health financing results in weak and obsolete infrastructure in the hospitals, congestion of patients to access health care because of limited human resources, poor supply of water, wards congestion, irregular supply of electricity, we ak telemedicine facility and recruitment, training and retraining or state of hospitals etc.

He recommended that the NHIS should be strengthened through the policy reform to embrace fund pooling/risk-sharing, subsidisation for the poor and the vulnerable, compulsory/ mandatory enrolment, and non-fragmentation of NHIS.