The Abiodun Essiet Initiative for Girls (AEIG) and other stakeholders have called for Improved funding of the health sector in Nigeria.
They gave the call at the two-years memorial lecture in honour of Brig.-Gen. Dr Victor Essiet, organised by the Abiodun Essiet Initiative for Girls, in Abuja.
Retired Maj.-Gen. Life Ajemba, former Director-General, Ministry of Defence Health Implementation Programme, described the gross underfunding of the health sector as a ‘serious cankerworm’.
Ajemba, who spoke on the topic “The State of Healthcare Delivery and Health Care Financing in Nigeria”, decried the low budgetary allocation to the health sector, adding that it was below the World Health Organisation standard.
“The poor health financing results in weak and obsolete infrastructure in the hospitals, congestion of patients access to health care because of limited human resources.
“Poor supply of water, wards congestion, irregular supply of electricity, weak telemedicine facility and recruitment, lack of training and retraining, among others.
“The government should show committment to improve the country’s healthcare system through increasing and prudent health spending.
“It is important for government to adopt a health finance mechanism that can produce equitable access and must be based on compulsory pre-payment, fund pooling or risk sharing and subsidisation for those who cannot afford to pay,” he said.
Also speaking, Mrs Abiodun Essiet, Founder, AEIG and widow of the late Essiet said that even after committing to the Abuja Declaration of 15 per cent budgetary allocation to the health sector, past and present administrations are yet to implement it.
“The situation is worse in the states and local government. This reflects the value government places on health and it has been a challenge in achieving efficient and effective health service delivery in Nigeria.
“This lecture provides an opportunity to reflect on government policies, both past and present, on healthcare financing and proffer solutions to the limitations in the cause of implementation.
“For me as an activist, I have chosen to remember him for what he stood for and one of the ways we want to continue his legacy is bringing decision makers in the forefront of managing the nation’s health sector together.
“We want them to come up with policies and strategies that would improve funding in our health sector.
“When he fell ill, he was taken to four different hospitals, but he was turned back because those hospitals had no bed space and barely had proper equipment and facilities like oxygen to mange the situation.
“This is the experience of millions of people in Nigeria on a daily basis and the health condition of the patient usually gets worse or even die in the process of moving from one hospital to another.
“If the hospitals are well funded and equipped by the government and if he was given adequate care at the first hospital he was taken to, maybe he would have been here with us today, instead of doing this in his memory,” she said.
NAN
