Expert Proffers Solution To Nigeria’s Affordable Healthcare Crisis

A Nigerian health expert, Akolade Jimoh has said that the country’s healthcare affordability crisis can be addressed by a roadmap to universal coverage through innovative financing.

Jimoh said this in a recent chart, stressing that health financing is one of the building blocks of the health system.

He lamented that the total expenditure on health has been rising but with limited financial access and risk protection from health expenditures for most of the population.

He said “High out-of-pocket expenses, inadequate insurance coverage, and limited government funding contribute to this crisis. Millions of Nigerians face a stark reality: the right to healthcare is contingent on their ability to pay.

“As a matter of fact, out-of-pocket payments for funding health care are among the highest in the world. Out-of-pocket spending, a staggering 70-75 per cent of the national health budget, pushes families into poverty with every illness.”

He said that Nigeria has implemented various initiatives to address the challenges. A good example is the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) which is aimed at improving access to quality primary health care through the provision of a Basic Minimum Package of Health Services (BMPHS).

“However, there have been gaps in its implementation and limitations to funding and other resources that still pose a problem to the actualization of the goal.

“Another policy by the Nigerian government to increase financial risk protection for the public is the establishment of the National Health Insurance Authority (formerly known as the National Health Insurance Scheme),” he said.