By Chioma Obinna

With only coverage of 4 percent in 10 years, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, has called for a total review of the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, saying it had failed to achieve its objectives.

According to the NMA, only four percent coverage had been achieved by the scheme in the last ten years.

Briefing journalists in Lagos on the group’s ongoing Annual General Meeting in Lagos, the chairman, Lagos State chapter of NMA, Dr. Tope Ojo, also expressed concern over the deplorable condition of infrastructure and amenities in the country and urged the President to holistically look at issues of trade dispute and settlements in all sectors.

Ojo called on the federal government to establish a mandatory health insurance for the people, adding that this would help to achieve universal health coverage.

“NHIS has not achieved the set agenda since inception till date as a large majority of Nigerians still lack access to decent and affordable healthcare,” he said.

Ojo called on the federal government to ban political office holders from overseas medical treatment, saying such a policy would save the nation’s health sector from total collapse.

He said: “The state of the health sector today is as poor as ever, with falling standards of education, including medical education, lack of modern equipment, coupled with a poorly motivated and highly unspecialised manpower.

”Unfortunately, those who created this scenario, based on gross management of public funds and lack of political will over the years, continue to jet abroad for medical treatment.”