By Hassan John
Health sector stakeholders have disclosed they have identified gaps in the manifestoes of the frontline political parties contesting the 2023 presidential election.
The stakeholders under the umbrella of the Health Sector Reform Coalition (HSRC), stated this at a media briefing in Abuja, Monday.
Speaking on behalf of the group, the Interim Coordinator of the HSRC, Chika Offor, said that they have analysed the health component of the manifestoes of the front line political parties and found some gaps, hence, provide identified areas that need urgent attention in the health sector.
According to her: “However, the analysis equally recognized gaps and suggest policy solutions that are relevant to the health manifestos of all or most of the candidates, including but not limited to expansion of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund to all primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria; full implementation of the minimum standards for PHC centres; use of strategic purchasing in budgets and insurance and institutionalization of Research Findings for Policymaking.
“Other critical policy solution, according to her, include mainstreaming health agenda in all sectors; engagement of qualified mental and social service professionals in PHC; institutionalization of accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms in the health sector.
“Other include sufficient emphasis on addressing human resource challenges and inter-professional friction within the health sector and enhanced investment in health security towards accelerated implementation of the National Action Plan on Health Security.”
The group also called for the reinvestment of 15 per cent of the petroleum subsidy package into the health sector.
“In addition to the above scientific gaps in the roadmaps of the candidates, and seeing the cross-cutting commitment to the removal of petroleum subsidy which last year gulped over 20% of the country’s budget, the group strongly suggests a substantial reinvestment of the subsidy package in the health sector.
“This idea is not only because the removal creates an ample fiscal space to achieve the Abuja Declaration, but because health is one of the few sectors that can provide immediate dividends of productivity for the people and economic growth for the country.
“Consequently, the group envisions that the subsidy-to-health reinvestment program may be implemented through the Vulnerable Group Fund, provided in the National Health Insurance Act, to provide free health insurance to vulnerable populations; also, through other pathways such as the basic healthcare provision fund, National Action Plan on Health Security, PHC revitalization plan and so on.”
While emphasizing that the group does not support any political party, Offor, however, said: from our observations, we must congratulate the political parties and candidates for heeding citizens call for more comprehensive health agenda to indeed earn their positions as front-running candidates in this election, since health is directly at the heart of human development.
“The apparent data-driven understanding of health issues across the [i]candidates’ manifestos, is a source of optimism for the group and generality of Nigerians who have been yearning for a political dispensation that will convert the robust health policy environment into better health outcomes for all Nigerian people.”
The group further commended candidates and their political parties for their many lofty ideas – from enrolling 133 million vulnerable Nigerians in the social health insurance scheme to earmarking funds for health research and local pharmaceutical production; from mainstreaming accountability to generate more value for money, to closing infrastructural gaps in health facilities.
With these, the group said, “the four candidates reinforced the belief of the group in their individual pedigrees.
“For instance, all the candidates acknowledged the evident lapses of the Nigerian health sector such as underfinancing, understaffing and even agree on the imperative of a health insurance-driven healthcare delivery to mitigate the inimical financial risks of out-of-pocket health spending.”
Speaking, a public health practitioner who is a member of the Coalition, Dr. Gafar Alawode, called on the incoming administration to appoint seasoned and credible people in the health sector that have the experience of the policy and experience of engaging the stakeholders so that they can hit the ground running to reform the health sector.
“We don’t want an administration that will come and experiment things on what works and what does not,” he stressed.
