Group Kicks against Lack of Transparency in FG’s Health Reform Drive
•Says time too short to conclude exercise before 2023
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
An interest group, Concerned Patriotic Citizens of Nigeria has alleged a plot by some persons to hijack the laudable health sector reform initiative headed by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
In the petition titled: “Call for Memoranda on Health Sector Reform Programme,” the group said their attention was drawn to a recent publication in some of our national dailies by an unidentified person calling for memoranda to be submitted to the Health Reform Committee.
However, the group in a petition made available to THISDAY described the move as a hasty effort aimed at drafting a new Health Sector Reform Programme that was ill-conceived and aimed at benefitting the proponent, Vesta Healthcare, whose objective they argued was to in the long run, be awarded the contract for implementing of the reform programme.
It said the call for Memoranda was an effort to, “attract patronage from innocent unsuspecting governments at the three tiers of government, and from the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies and is couched in a language that suggests sinister motives, as the committee is solely invited to peruse the diagnostic report of the reform proponent.”
It added that in the light of the current fiscal challenges being faced by the federal government, deploying scarce resources for executing the activities of the Committee will further deplete the already depleted National Treasury.
The group said: “The Health Sector Reform Programme is being hurriedly packaged by Vesta Healthcare, backed by a few individuals who are utilising their close relationship with the Office of the Vice President to promote a selfish agenda for the Health Sector and undermine the efforts of Government to improve the health sector by attraction of much needed Foreign Direct Investments through Public Private Partnerships.
“Unknown to the vice president, the reform proponent, Vesta Healthcare and Partners, are using their close relationship with the Office of the Vice President and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to perpetrate a selfish agenda, thereby undermining all other healthcare programmes and projects, to the detriment of established institutions of government, who are genuinely mandated and saddled with the onerous responsibility of driving the healthcare mandate of the federal government of Nigeria as contained in the existing current National Health Act which is adequate and only requires full implementation.
“The hasty effort aimed at drafting a new Health Sector Reform Programme is ill-conceived and aimed at benefitting the proponent, Vesta Healthcare, whose objective is to on the long run, be awarded the Contract for implementation of the Reform Programme.
“The call for Memoranda is an effort by whosoever is behind same, aimed at undermining the National Health Agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria, under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. Who is globally acclaimed for Due orocess, transparency, accountability and good governance.”
The group further stated that as laudable as the terms of reference may seem, they viewed the call for memoranda for the development and implementation of a new Health Sector Reform Programme for the country as coming too late at the tail end of the current administration.
“For an important reform of a sector that is on the concurrent legislative list requiring the input and endorsement of the three tiers of government; local governments and state governments legislative arms of government, as well as the National Assembly, will be counter-productive, and unwise for the following reasons.”
Furthermore, the group said to successfully develop a proper reform programme for the entire health sector, the committee would need at least a period of 24 months, adding that all recommendations have to pass through the three tiers of government for review and approve whereas the current administration only has about eight months left in power.
They said rather than commence a fresh health sector reform programme ab initio, previous health sector reform reports should be retrieved from the archives and put together as a working document, to consolidate existing projects aimed at improving healthcare delivery and diagnostic programmes currently being implemented at various levels of the Health Sector.
