Life expectancy at birth is part of the United Nations Development Index (HDI) for evaluating a country’s progress. OYEYEMI GBENGA-MUSTAPHA and WALE ADEPOJU take a look at the health sector as the country turns 55.
Nigeria is not yet there, health wise, but it is heading towards being among the very best in healthcare. President Muhammadu Buhari said this at the just-concluded 70th United Nations General Assembly.
Buhari said the newly-adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)s’ core objectives of poverty eradication and reducing inequalities must be met within the framework of a revitalised global partnership support by concrete policies and actions as outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.
“For the newly adopted SDGs to be truly global, they must be practical. In this regard, the SDGs’ core objectives of poverty eradication and reducing inequalities must be met within the framework of a revitalized global partnership support by concrete policies and actions as outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda.Luckily, these two core objectives of the SDGs are precisely at the centre of Nigeria’s new Administration’s agenda”, President Buhari stated.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) poverty and ignorance are part of the factors that fuel diseases and ill health, especially in developing and under developed countries. Nigeria is a developing country.
This global partnership is part of what his administration is ready to explore differently. President Buhari acknowledged that his country is at home with global partnership, especially in the area of health. He cited the containment of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).
President Buhari said: “Last year, our continent faced the dreadful occurrence of Ebola. We sincerely thank the international community for the collective efforts to contain this deadly disease. We are not out of the woods yet but we would like to record our appreciation to the United States, United Kingdom, France and China for their outstanding assistance in arresting the spread of Ebola and care of those infected in collaboration with host countries.”
Ebola was not the only disease the country won. It did poliomyelitis, dracunculiasis, also called guinea worm disease (GWD), diphtheria. It also passed the National Health Bill.
As much as the future is rosy, the sector is still bedeviled with professional rivalry, poor financing and coruption, industrial actions, especially by medics, poor implementation of the National Health Act and many citizens are yet to enroll in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). So also are the cases of incommunicable diseases on the increase.
NMA President Dr Kayode Obembe said at 55 the country is moving out of the woods, for a healthier life for its citizens.
Obembe said: “In 55 years, Nigeria has got a lot to celebrate about in the health sector. Look at infant and maternal mortality rate, it has reduced. The country has improved from 1, 500 deaths of 100,000 per deliveries to about 145 per 100, 000 live births. This can also be further improved upon. We are not going to be static. We just got Polio free certification. We equally kicked out Ebola. The execution of the National Health Act is what should be pursued now. We have human resources. Private Public Partnership (PPP) is working. A lot of brain gain is improving as most of our colleagues in Diasporas are planning to return home. The wind of change is blowing and the country is stabilizing.
“A lot of work is being done in the area of research. Some of the teaching hospitals are into high tech operation/treatment. Research institutes such as Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Yaba are into Biomedical training and Cancer research.”
He said many people are afraid of PPP, “but it is the way to go, as there are experts to work with. The experts that don’t have money to work with can collaborate with the money bags or novel companies or get grants. All these are fruitful and beneficial to all, including the country. We are gradually moving away from having buildings without equipments to work with.”
Dr Obembe said NHIS is helping out with health affordability as many Nigerians have bought into it. “Small investigations can now be carried out and lives saved. Universal health coverage is the in thing. All Nigerians should be covered and that is the way to go. We are in the period of change. We are moving from MDGs to SDGs. Government should explore Community Health Insurance Scheme. For now, NHIS is selective. It does not capture all children, women, the poor or unemployed nor cover all aspect of human health,” he stated.
Pioneer Chairperson of National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA) Prof Ibironke Akinsete said Nigeria should have been better than what obtains now at 55 year of independence because, “When I came back from Canada 48 years ago the country was superb and the health sector was in a very good shape. But over the years, things deteriorated. Basically, it is lacking of adequate funding. We then advocated PPP and we can now see that it is working and level of care is being raised. Most people should realize that health is not a money making venture. Most people cannot afford healthcare. And Health reform became necessary, which ushered in NHIS, Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs).”
She said there are challenges the country should overcome such as ignorance.
According to her ignorance is one of the greatest impediments confronting the health sector. So there is a need to create awareness on preventive medicine on the part of the government, and the people. “Awareness at all level in different languages and dialects is a necessity. We should be able to sustain that. Part of the challenge is that we initiate good programs in the health sector but we don’t sustain that. Look at the Primary healthcare in the past compared with now.
“Let us also optimise all those things that are working for us in the health sector. Cancer, for instance is curable is caught early. It is not a death sentence. Finance is a huge problem. If you look at the income of may people, they can’t afford quality healthcare. To treat cancer for instance is capital intensive but with health insurance affordability is feasible. Once you start work you key into health insurance. that is what obtains abroad.”
Prof Akinsete said there is a need to look at the health sector comprehensively, “let us look at ourselves and address issues honestly. Team work is the main thing in the health sector. People should learn to bury ego and work with other professionals for the betterment of their patients. Strike should be a thing of the past. Identify why there are unrests in the sector, and seek how to address them in all truthfulness and sincerity. We are static in many areas of health. It is time to change and move up and on. We need to create momentum to support it. Corruption should be dealt with. Let us know why the government is not funding the health sector. We need o get a system to support the health of people.”
To Director General (DG) Nigeria n Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Prof Ujah the health sector is still wobbling. “The health indices are there for all to see. The current administration is looking at how to sustain the momentum created. The National Health Act is waiting for implementation. A Committee has been set up to implement the Act, which I am aware of. Corruption must be dealt with. If you look at the MDGs, though we did not meet the deadline but we neared same. That has prepared us as a nation to now refocus, restrategise. Look at communicable diseases and non communicable disease how Nigerians are talking about them such as TB, HIV/AIDS, malaria etc these cases have reduced. We have improved in the area of diagnostics. With training, capacity building, well equipped facility and motivation the health sector will meet international standard.”
President Buhari said Nigeria is ready and willing to partner with international agencies and individual countries on a bilateral basis to confront crimes and corruption. In particular, “I call upon the global community to urgently redouble efforts towards strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin.
President Buhari hoped that, “In the next 70 years, UN will achieve control of climate; help to eliminate communicable diseases and his country too would have left behind many of the health problems confronting it.”
