The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, has declared that plans are underway to make health insurance compulsory in the country.
Chukwu stated this at a health summit entitled “Universal Health Coverage: the Vehicle for Sustainable Growth and Development” in Abuja on Monday.
The minister, who said there was already a consensus on the initiative, noted that it would further provide the financial support for the scheme.
Chukwu said, “Consensus was reached that the government should work with all stakeholders to make health insurance mandatory for all Nigerians. Financial access is possible if health insurance is compulsory and treated as right of all citizens.
“This summit reaffirms our resolve to find solution to our health system challenges as well as invest strategically to improve equitable access to health care at all levels.”
According to him, there is strong evidence that investment in health and nutrition are not only good for people’s health, but also for economic development.
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, which also spoke on the occasion, doubted the FG’s commitment to implementing the insurance scheme for workers.
The union, therefore, threatened to embark on a nationwide protest to compel government to be alive to its responsibilities.
The President-General of TUC, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama, represented by its Secretary-General, Mr. Musa Lawal, said the NHIS had yet to achieve much as less than six per cent of the population is covered.
Kaigama said, “Having a public health system does not mean that health care is free. They ask us to fast and save for the rainy day and they feast on the sweats of our labour even before the rains come. We say no and never. We shall resort to a nationwide aluta to compel them to be alive to their responsibilities to the citizenry.
A former Minister of Health, Prof. Eyitayo Lambo, also frowned on the slow progress of the scheme 10 years after its inauguration.
Lambo, who chaired a panel discussion on “Financial access to Health”, advised the FG to take cue from Ghana and Ethiopia’s health financing model, which he added, stipulated roles and responsibilities for each tier of government.
He said, “To get to the Promised Land of universal coverage, certain things need to be done. The commitment should not only come from the federal but also the states as well.”
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