The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that healthcare in Nigeria is financed predominantly by households, who pay for healthcare out of their pockets.
WHO country representative, Walter Mulombo, disclosed this yesterday at the 6th Annual Conference of the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHEJ) in Akwanga, Nasarawa State.
Represented by WHO Field Presence Cluster Lead, Ahmed Khedr, Mulombo said, “With healthcare out-of-pocket expenditure at 70.5 percent of the Current Health Expenditure (CHE) in 2019, general government health expenditure as a percentage of the GDP was 0.6 percent while government expenditure per capita was $14.6 compared with WHO’s $86 benchmark for universal health coverage (UHC).
“Currently, the country bears the highest burdens of tuberculosis and paediatric HIV, while accounting for 50 percent of neglected tropical diseases in Africa.
“Although the prevalence of malaria is declining from 42 percent to 23 percent, the country contributes 27 percent of global cases and 24 percent of global deaths. NCDs account for 29 percent of all deaths in Nigeria with premature mortality from the four main NCDs (Hypertension, Diabetes, Cancers, Malnutrition) accounting for 22 percent of all deaths”.
Stressing that the pathway to Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is slim, Dr Molumbo emphasised the need for leaders to prioritise health for all by ensuring that everyone has access to health, he added that until something is done, the negative externalities pose huge losses to the Nigerian economy.
“There is no single pathway to UHC. All countries must find their own way in the context of their own social, political, and economic circumstances.
“But the foundation everywhere must be a political commitment to building a strong health system, based on primary care, with an emphasis on disease prevention and health promotion. Such health systems do not only provide the best health outcomes; they are also the best defense against outbreaks and other health emergencies. In this sense, UHC and health security are truly two sides of the same coin,” he said.
Molumbo urged participants to utilise the opportunity of the conference and come up with ideas that will help in promoting the health sector.
Earlier, ANHEJ president, Mr Hassan Zaggi, in his welcome address expressed concern over the poor state of Primary Healthcare Facilities in the country, saying when people living in rural communities are ill, the first and nearest health facility to them is the PHC but unfortunately, most of them cannot access services as they pay from their pockets.
He said that the theme of the workshop: “Health Security, UHC & NHIA: How Can Nigeria get it right- the Role of the Media in Perspective” is apt as it allows participants to examine the current issues in the health sector.
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