Dr. Osagie Ehanire
By Louis Achi
Healthcare sector experts converged in Abuja, recently, under the aegis of the Healthcare Transformation Coalition (HTC), to chart a course for the next administration.
Although the symposium was politically nuanced, coming on the eve of a general election, it nevertheless cut to the heart of the challenges besetting the healthcare sector.
Capturing this essence, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, alluding to “the ongoing Health Sector Reform of the current administration,” noted “We know healthcare as the cornerstone of Human Capital Development; it is therefore fit and proper to devote this prime time to it.”
The Healthcare Transformation Coalition (HTC) symposium themed “Repositioning the Health Sector, Creating the Pathway to an Effective Health System,” indeed turned out to be a fitting forum to devote prime time in charting an agenda for Nigeria’s next administration.
HTC is a coalition of all members of the different health care professional groups in the health sector including doctors, pharmacists, laboratory scientists and other stakeholders.
Laying out the tripodal health objectives of the outgoing administration, Ehanire revealed that “The objective was first of all, Universal Health Coverage that would provide geographic and financial access to healthcare for 95 per cent or more residents of Nigeria.
“It would also offer a basic minimum package of health services to citizens, even in remote and rural areas, without suffering financial hardship.
“The second was a commitment to continuous improvement of the quality of healthcare offered at all levels and the third was the creation of a robust and sustainable health.”
He also touched on the sensitive issue of health budgets, noting that, “As much as you say the budget is low. There is a fundamental question being asked to this very symposium, how well are they utilised?
“And how well have you integrated all the support for healthcare coming from different sources? I feel that is why one of the panellists was talking about using technology to integrate all sources of financing so that transparency and accountability are introduced.”
The centrality of budgeting to a workable health sector management indeed cannot be glossed over. According to the Chairperson of the Health Sector Reform Coalition, Chika Offor, budgeting for health was beyond allocation and the next regime must ensure better implementation, utilisation of funds and evaluation to achieve a vibrant sector.
For good measure, she stressed that funding is a very critical part of reforming the nation’s healthcare system.
Looking at the big picture she observed that “To improve the primary healthcare system, there is a need to develop and implement systems that will enable the private sector to join the reform agenda.”
She noted that any major challenge bedeviling the health system is the fact that there is a trust deficit and that should be resolved to enhance the rapid reformation of the healthcare sector in the country.
Pitching for maternal health services, the President/CEO Association for Reproductive and Family Health, Prof. Oladapo Ladipo, in response to questions from a symposium panel, charged the in-coming government to make maternal healthcare including antenatal care, labour, delivery and postpartum care free.
Further advocating that all related Family Planning (FP) services be free he insisted that all Nigerians who need such services should have access to them at the right time.
Globally renowned obstetrician and gynaecologist, Prof. Ladipo insisted the best way to reduce maternal deaths in the country is to make family planning services totally free of charge and called on the next administration to build on the successes the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government has achieved in the sector.
While calling for more investment in health and education, he charged the in-coming government to peruse all the already existing policies in the health sector and investigate why they were not being implemented.
For good measure, the acclaimed obstetrician and gynaecologist also warned that without investment in family planning “Nigeria cannot achieve any of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In his contribution, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, (NPHCDA), Director, Planning, Research and Statistics, Dr Bulama Garuba noted that health was created at home and the hospital did the repairs.
Garuba said that the agency had five principles of primary healthcare: accessibility, public participation, health promotion, appropriate skills and technology and inter-sectoral cooperation. He said that the goal of nursing practice was to improve the health of clients.
On his part, the symposium’s convener Dr. Jide Idris, a former Lagos State Commissioner of Health, held that governance and leadership were the major challenges hampering the growth of the health sector in Nigeria.
His words: “One of the basic problems in the health system is leadership and governance. It is a major problem. But people don’t understand what leadership and governance is.
“We cannot move forward without a proactive leader. A leader that has vision who knows what he wants to do. He has the ability to tell the people working around him to do the same thing.
He revealed that the coalition is a professional group which is to support the implementation of policies and also to support political agenda in the health sector.
Dr. Idris explained that the HSC was brought together to be able to advice the in-coming government appropriately on the right approach to take in building the health sector, observing that “over the years, healthcare professionals have always reacted to health policies.
“The government set policies then we start reacting, if we don’t want the policies may be we start going on strike.”
He further held that, “This time around, we should be involved in setting the health agenda because at the end of the day, health is very body’s business. Government has a role, professionals have a role and individuals have a role to play.
“Over the years, we always believe that government knows everything. That is not correct. Government are human beings, they are not healthcare professionals.
“So it is left for us the professionals to show the direction and tell them what to do or what we want done. Over the years, people shy away from this. We cannot get a good health sector if we don’t play the politics. This is essentially why we are here.”
Pulling no punches, he disclosed that the symposium was organised as part of many activities “To mobilise all health workers, friends, colleagues in getting them to be very political.”
In all, the experts held that genuinely incepting a sustainable health sector involves a commitment to the prioritization of the Attainment of Universal Health Coverage for the most vulnerable populations, who also bear the highest disease burden.
