By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA—The Healthcare Federation of Nigeria, HFN, has called on the federal government to channel taxes to bridge the funding gap in healthcare.

President of HFN, Dr Pamela Ajayi, made the call at the Health Financing Policy Dialogue 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. 

Ajayi emphasized the need for implementation of taxes to bridge the gap in the funding of healthcare  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 had  also writen 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. “