Onyebuchi Ezigbo
The federal government says it is important to work with private sector stakeholders if the country is to attain universal health coverage for all Nigerians.
It mentioned that one of the most effective strategies to ensure affordable healthcare for all is social insurance, which is operational as the National Health Insurance Scheme.
Minister of State for Health, Hon. Ekumankama Joseph Nkama, disclosed this at the Public Private Dialogue in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to him, the health ministry is saddled with the responsibility of providing leadership for the sector, including policy formulation and implementation.
Nkama noted that the synergy between the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and CIPE would go a long way in building synergy in strengthening the Nigerian healthcare system.
“The Federal Ministry of Health has a vision to attain universal health coverage for all Nigerian citizens so that all will have access to quality, safe and comprehensive health care service that is affordable, accessible and acceptable,” the health minister explained.
He added, “A strategic and sure way to achieve universal health coverage in Nigeria is through social insurance, which is operational as the National Health Insurance Scheme.”
The minister further explained that the initiative had undergone several reforms to increase coverage and improve the accountability framework.
“We need to constantly and consistently monitor and evaluate our performance in order to identify the gaps for timely and appropriate intervention to improve access to essential and quality health services for Nigerians,” said Nkama.
However, he admitted that the ministry could not operate alone. Nakama explained that all health system stakeholders would be needed to improve health outcomes.
“Therefore, any effort toward building and strengthening the health system in Nigeria, such as this public-private dialogue, is welcome and must be applauded and emulated,” he stressed. “We need collaboration such as this with NMA and CIPE to conduct research and recommend solutions to identified gaps.”
Former President of the NMA, Prof Innocent Ujah, the lead consultant for the research, said the objectives of the research conducted in four cities of Aba, Kano, Lagos and Onitsha was to assess patients’ satisfaction with services provided by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), explore accessibility and expenditure challenges faced by enrollees, identify administrative challenges faced by the authority, health management organisations (HMOs) and healthcare professionals.
