By Sola Ogundipe

THE immediate past governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has declared that political will and public financing are key to attainment of Universal Health Coverage, UHC,  in Nigeria and the developed world.

CONFERENCE: From left – Former Governor of Ondo State and guest lecturer, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko; receiving an award of commendation from the President, Association of Fetomaternal Medicine Specialists of Nigeria (AFEMSON), Prof Oluwafemi Kuti (right) and President, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), Prof Joseph Adinwa at the maiden Scientific Conference of AFEMSON, held at LASUTH Ikeja, Lagos, last week

Mimiko who spoke in Lagos at the maiden Scientific Conference of the Association of Feto-Maternal Specialists of Nigeria, AFEMSON,  themed “Reducing Maternal and Perinatal Mortality, A Collective Responsibility,” called for the right   leadership and political will to utilise public fund towards UHC.

Presenting his keynote address, Mimiko who observed that from where he quoted data and reports of global and national agencies on the gains and challenges of UHC,   said players and policy makers have  agreed that Universal Health Coverage delivers substantial health, economic and political benefits across populations.

Tracing his exploits as governor in the health sector to his conviction that maternal and perinatal deaths could in most cases be prevented if the society paid premium attention to delivering affordable health care, he observed that public finance must be deployed to the pursuit of coverage  so as to reap associated health, economic and political benefits.

“Let me make it clear that I am a firm believer in Universal Health Coverage (UHC) – everybody receiving the health that he needs (not what he can afford) without catastrophic spending.

“For me, it is a moral, socio-economic and political imperative. This is in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) constitution of 1948 which spells out clearly that “the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of human being.”

“The point that needs to be made repeatedly is that himself. What an eloquent case for public funding of maternal healthcare.”

Mimiko, who refered to different scalable interventions and developments of his administration as governor of Ondo State, women, children and adolescents must be given priority in universal health coverage as they are the most vulnerable of the population.

He added that the attainment of the Health target of the Sustainable Developments Goals “is inextricably tied to universal health coverage.” Tracing his exploits as governor in the health sector to his conviction that maternal and perinatal deaths could in most cases be prevented if the society paid premium attention to delivering affordable health care.

“Working with other stakeholders, put in place processes that have to a large extent proved that even in resources challenged settings like ours we can post reasonable outcomes in maternal and perinatal death reduction.”