Abuja, 13 December, 2022 – “I recall rising up in a snug dwelling and missing nothing till my father fell unwell in 2010. I used to be in secondary faculty when his illness began. He was a farmer and businessman who promote cocoa in Ondo state, southwest Nigeria, says Adetutu Ibironke, a mom of 1 residing in Abuja, Nigeria.
She says her father’s illness began like malaria and appears to be no trigger for alarm till he started frequenting the hospital.
“He was not getting higher and was debilitating. Docs referred him to varied hospitals till he was identified with colon most cancers. His remedy affected our finance as a result of my mother or father modified our college and started promoting their properties His sickness obtained worse and my mother or father bought all their properties.
We began relying on relations, buddies and the goodwill of individuals. He nonetheless died in April 2012 and we’re but to recoup our funds”, she says.
Decreasing out-of-pocket expenditure
Noting that out-of-pocket fee (OOP) for well being companies is likely one of the accountable elements pushing billions into poverty, the World Well being Group (WHO) advocates for Common Well being Protection (UCH), the place everybody, in every single place can entry the standard well being companies they want, with out monetary hardship.
Reaching UHC, together with monetary threat safety, entry to high quality important healthcare companies and entry to protected, efficient, high quality and reasonably priced important drugs and vaccines for all, is the third Sustainable Growth Aim (SDG 3.8). That is firmly rooted within the 1948 WHO Structure, which declares well being a elementary human proper and commits to making sure the best attainable stage of well being for all.
Consequently, December 12 yearly has been designated by the United Nations for governments to resume their dedication whereas offering a novel alternative for advocates to lift their voices in demand for smarter investments in well being in direction of UHC.
The 2022 UHC day theme is: “Construct the world we wish: A wholesome future for all,”
Medical insurance key to well being companies
In commemoration of this yr’s UHC Day, the Nigerian Minister of Well being, Dr Osagie Ehanire in a press convention in Abuja says Nigeria can obtain UHC and scale back OOP if everybody subscribes to the medical health insurance packet offered by the Nationwide Well being Insurance coverage Authority (NHIA) company.
Dr Ehanire stated this yr’s theme calls on all people to play their half within the objective to attain a resilient well being system, that may present high quality companies with out impoverishing anybody.
“Residents have the duty to carry us accountable and demand higher companies from the well being services, owned by the Native Councils, State & Federal Governments. Residents ought to insist on higher well being investments from those that govern them in any respect ranges.
I want to once more draw the eye of Nigerians to the NHIA legislation that makes it obligatory for everybody to subscribe to a medical health insurance package deal. This can scale back the proportion of individuals spending Out-Of-Pocket for well being, he says.
Dr Ehanire additional applauded stakeholders together with WHO, who’ve supported the efforts of the Authorities to assist Nigeria inch nearer to UHC.
“I’m sure that with collective motion, we will construct the nationwide well being system we wish; a well being system that ensures a wholesome future for all, he added.
In her assertion, the WHO Officer-in-Cost, Dr Mie Okamura says it’s the imaginative and prescient of WHO that everybody, in every single place has entry to high quality healthcare every time they want it, with out struggling monetary hardship.
Dr Okamura congratulated Nigeria for the lately enacted Nationwide Well being Insurance coverage Authority (NHIA) Act and the Fundamental Well being Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), that are commendable important steps taken by the federal government in direction of lowering catastrophic out-of-pocket expenditure.
“WHO has continued to offer technical assist to the federal government of Nigeria in direction of UHC to raise individuals out of poverty, particularly the weak, promote the well-being of households and communities, and shield in opposition to public well being crises.
“I take this chance of the 2022 Common Well being Protection Day commemoration to resume WHO’s dedication to strolling with Nigeria as we take this important journey in direction of the reorientation of the nation’s well being methods in direction of main well being care, as the muse of common well being protection.
Moreover, she referred to as on the federal government of Nigeria to replace nationwide well being plans and guarantee public budgetary sources stay on the core of financing for UHC; strengthen well being methods by reprioritizing PHC, private and non-private capital investments which are ‘inexperienced’, enhance tax administration, scale back pointless, probably financial, dangerous subsidies; and guarantee coordinated, pooled donor funds as wanted in assist of the nationwide plan.
The spotlight of the day was an consciousness stroll in Abuja to sensitize the general public in regards to the significance of reaching UHC in Nigeria. The stroll was attended by the highest administration of the Federal Ministry of Well being, well being personnel, growth companions, CSOs, and the media.
Technical Contact:
Dr Francis Ukwuije; E mail: ukwuijef [at] who.int