Nigeria needs to create sustainable healthcare funding sources — Ndili

By Gabriel Ewepu – Abuja

As Nigerians continue to suffer and die due to high cost of healthcare services, the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, HFN, Thursday, called on government to channel taxes to bridge healthcare services.

This was stated by the President, HFN, Dr Pamela Ajayi, at the Health Financing Policy Dialogue which held in Abuja.

The conference which was organized by PharmAccess Foundation, Nigeria Healthwatch and the World Bank hosted several distinguished dignitaries including the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe; the Director- General of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Prof Mohammed Nasir Sambo; the Director- General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze; the First Lady of Kebbi State, Dr Zainab Bagudu, and others.

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Ajayi emphasized the need for
implementation of taxes to bridge the gap in the funding of healthcare services in order to achieve the SDGs on universal health coverage and the Abuja Declaration.

According to her, HFN has been a strong proponent for the implementation of the Pro Health Taxes.

It has  also wrote to the Minister of Finance in 2021 to throw weight behind increase of existing taxes on alcohol and tobacco including introduction of  new taxes on Sugar Sweetened Beverages, SSB.

She pointed that there are countries that have succeeded in implementing taxes on areas highlighted to boost and improve healthcare services including Philippines, Australia, Korea, and others.

Meanwhile, she made it known that as part of HFN’s recommendations, these taxes are to be used to provide coverage for indigent Nigerians and to scale up mandatory health insurance coverage for all Nigerians with a  percentage of the revenue being earmarked for specific impact health related schemes as well as research and  development particularly in the areas of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

However, the HFN boss said it is imperative to create a strong legal framework to secure these funds ‘ring-fencing’ them for healthcare and formation of a committee with relevant stakeholders (both public and private) to ensure equitable and sustainable  disbursement of the funds for the improvement of healthcare in the country.

Also speaking on the issue, the Country Director PharmAccess Foundation and Vice President of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, HFN, Njide Ndili, tasked government to create sustainable healthcare funding sources and not to depend on donor funds, which could be dangerous if withdrawn over a period of time.

Ndili said the crux of the meeting was to see how to help Government identify innovative and sustainable ways to finance the health sector without depending on donor funds.

She pointed that donor funds should be an add on to the country’s sources of finance for healthcare services, hence the need to consider corporate funding for healthcare services and mobilisation of local resources for financing quality healthcare service delivery to Nigerians instead of traveling abroad, and as well save foreign exchange.

The West African Health Policy and Partnership Lead at Roche and Publicity Secretary of the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, HFN, Kolapo Fapohunda, urged Government to put the private sector in the front burner as far as healthcare service delivery is concerned, which is what the HFN stands for.

Fapohunda recalled how the private sector was in the lead to contain the novel coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic.

He also acknowledged the role of Nigerian government for the establishment and implementation of the Sugar Sweetened Beverages, SSB tax and encouraged the government to ensure the funds are earmarked for the health sector to improve access to equitable health for all Nigerians.

HFN is a coalition of Nigerian private healthcare sector stakeholders, an apolitical, non-partisan, non-profit organization speaking with a unified voice for the purpose of improving the Nigerian Health Sector through advocacy.

Vanguard News Nigeria