Poor Funding: Govs Doubt Universal Health Coverage In Nigeria

Governor of Ekiti State and chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has said that unless the issue of poor funding for health and the fragmentation of the health financing arrangements are addressed, Nigeria may not achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The governor stated this yesterday at the Primary Health Care (PHC) Financing Forum, with the theme: “Expanding the Frontier at Sub-national Level”, in Abuja.

He said “Health financing is a critical building block of the health system that directly affects the functionality of the overall system, and until we address the issue of poor funding for health and the fragmentation of the health financing arrangements in Nigeria, we will make little headway in our pursuit for Universal Health Coverage.”

Represented by the governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, Fayemi acknowledged that the right to health is a fundamental human right.

He, however, said that the country’s ability to guarantee this right for all Nigerians has been slow, largely due to how the health system is financed and delivered.

Fayemi regretted that this has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which has exposed significant weaknesses in the country’s health sector, especially in Primary Healthcare.

He, therefore, stressed the need to sustainable financing for primary health care in the country to ensure risk protection, adequate infrastructure, human resources and the delivery of quality health services.

He said: “To solve the problem of financing for primary health care and meet the demands for a responsive and high-performing health system, we must approach PHC financing and service delivery with four key focuses in mind.

“The utilisation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) to finance essential health services, especially for the vulnerable and to improve the country’s capacity to address public health emergencies.

“Consolidate funding to address primary care and essential public health functions.

Meanwhile, the governor stated that varying degrees of effort was already in place to achieve some of these focuses, saying “For instance, a good number of states have established their State Health Insurance Schemes and have purchased explicit packages of health services for their citizens.”