JONATHAN LAMENTS POOR HEALTH COVERAGE Category: News Published on Tuesday, 11 March 2014 05:00 Written by Isiaka Wakili & Ruby Leo Hits: 49 President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed concern that Nigeria is lagging behind in universal health coverage. He was speaking at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday while declaring open the Presidential Summit on Universal Health Coverage themed “Vehicle for Sustainable Growth and Development”. Jonathan, who was represented by Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, said Nigeria ought to keep abreast with other countries, especially in the implementation of the social health insurance scheme. Describing universal health coverage as a collective responsibility, he said the federal, state and local governments as well as civil society organisations and the organised private sector must work together to develop the platform needed to achieve the universal health coverage in Nigeria. He said his administration had invested in strengthening human capacity in the health sector, saying however, that “because our resources are limited, we must utilise them effectively”. Earlier the minister of health, Professor Christian Onyebuchi Chukwu noted that at pre-technical session of the presidential summit, a consensus was reached that government must work wıth stakeholders to make the NHIS mandatory. According to him if the UCH is implemented jobs wıll be created in the 774 LGAs. Chukwu explains that “with an initial crew and support of 10 staff only, the ambulance service alone will provide 77,400 jobs and this will expand progressively to millions of jobs over time.” Also, Senate President David Mark, urged the Federal Government to make right policy choices that are implementable in the health sector. Mark, who was represented by Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, chairman, Senate Committee on Health, lamented that a lot of poor Nigerians were denied access to healthcare delivery. For Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko, universal health coverage is only achievable through political will as well as efficient and effective utilisation of resources. Meanwhile the Executive Secretary of the NHIS, Dr Femi Thomas has said that about N1.3 trillion will be required to fund the UHC.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 09:12:35 +0000
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