The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Universal Health coverage

  • C/River to fast-track attainment of universal health coverage

    Cross River State Commissioner of Health, Dr Inyang Asibong, has called on stakeholders to articulate concept notes that would fast-track the Ministry’s drive to attaining universal health coverage in the state.

    Asibong made the call at a five-day training workshop by the Cross River State Ministry of Health in collaboration with Population Council, World Health Organization and the Center for Human Resources for Health Management Training, University of Calabar on Human Resources for Health (HRH) for health resource managers from the ministry and stakeholder stakeholders in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State.

    Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Joseph Adim Bassey, the Commissioner said there are available opportunities to be explored that could address issues of sustainability.

    She said the training had opened their eyes the abundant human resources that have hitherto been untapped.

    The Commissioner said the Ministry of Health is ready to collaborate with the University of Calabar and the Center for Human Resources for Health Management Training (Center for Excellence) to address needs in other health related issues.

    READ ALSO: Farmers drag Cross River government to court over Boki oil palm estate

    The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Zana I. Akpagu, said human resource managers need to be vocal and active within the health community, and therefore, require training and re- training.

    The Vice Chancellor, who was represented by the Dean, Faculty of Allied Medical Sciences, Prof. Idongesit Akpabio, charged participants that the workshop should not end in work planning alone, but also work towards implementation.

    The Country Representative of Population Council in Nigeria, Dr. Sylvia Adebajo, expressed gratitude to the Global Affairs Canada for supporting Population Council in terms of capacity building in Human Resource for Health Managers.

    Speaking through Mr. Godwin Unumeri, he also thanked the Cross River State Government’s commitment to accelerated Health Care delivery in the State.

  • Commissioner seeks review of Universal Health Coverage

    Lagos State Commissioner for Health Dr Jide Idris, yesterday called for a review and re-organisation of the health sector in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

    Idris made the call at a Lagos State Media and Communication Healthcare Financing Training organised for journalists by the by the State Ministry of Health in Lagos.

    The training was in collaboration with the United States Agency International Development (USAID) funded project, Health Finance and Governance (HFG), a non-governmental organization (NGO).

    Idris said: “Universal health coverage involves reviewing and restructuring the systems to address specific things; if we get this right, it is a total paradigm shift and the state will be better for it.

    “We need more money to address so many things that we need to do in the health sector, not only building hospitals. There are so many things we need to do in the health sector that people do not see, which are very crucial to the success and health of our people, all these need funding. We need human resource; we need to educate and enlighten the people.

    “We need to control diseases, we need to trace data and trace diseases occurrences.”

    He said there was need for people to know what the state government was doing to make healthcare more accessible, affordable and efficient.

    The commissioner advised residents to contribute to the Lagos State Health Scheme (LSHS) so that they could be covered, adding that funding the health sector was huge task.

    According to him, the scheme, which will commence in two months’ time, will involve both public and private providers in the provision of services.

    “We are starting with the basic care so that over 70 per cent of our people will have access to see the doctor and be treated at the primary care level. We are trying to introduce a referral system whereby you refer people from the primary to the secondary and tertiary institutions. We are trying to put order into the system and we are trying to introduce quality,” he said.

     

  • ‘Fed Govt committed to universal health coverage’

    ‘Fed Govt committed to universal health coverage’

    The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to achieving universal health coverage in the country in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030.

    Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole stated this while delivering a lecture in honour of Emeritus Prof. Kelsey Atangamuerimo Harrison at the University of Port Harcourt yesterday.

    The minister, who paid glowing tribute to Harrison for his immense contributions to the development of the nation’s health sector, noted that one of the priority objectives of the SDG–UHC is to engender equity in access to health.

    He pointed out that lessons learned over the years have shown that countries that attained UHC, strategically focused on covering financing and service provision gaps.

    Adewole said: “Improvements in health outcomes have been slow over the last decade and two-thirds of the burden of disease remains illnesses affecting mothers and children.

    “Nigeria has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world at 576 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.6 times the global average.  This is almost the same as in the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) (545 deaths per 100,000).”

  • Universal health coverage, right of every Nigerian – NMA

    Universal health coverage, right of every Nigerian – NMA

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) says that universal health coverage is the right of every Nigerian citizen.

    Dr Kayode Obembe, President of the association, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the right of patients was clearly stated in the Constitution.

    Obembe explained that the constitution clearly stipulated that it was the responsibility of government to take care of the health needs of all citizens at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

    According to him, instead of using the provisions to better the lots of Nigerians with regard to health they insisted and kept hammering that “health is on the concurrent legislative list so that the states and local governments can enact laws apart from the federal.

    He noted that this clause have usually been used to the detriment of citizens by denying them of that right as enshrined in the constitution.

    “The problem that many people continue to hammer on is that health is on the concurrent legislative list so that the states and local governments can enact laws apart from the federal.

    “This clause have usually been used to the detriment of Nigeria citizens, so holistically health is a right to every Nigerian citizen,’’ Obembe said.

    He said, for instance, that every citizen has the right to enrol and enjoy any payment made by government to subsidise NHIS services.

    According to him, the role of universal health coverage which encapsulate all needed requirement on health services was aimed at ensuring that citizens have right to affordable and qualitative healthcare without any impediment on household expenditure.

    Besides, Obembe said that patients have the right to consultation, history taking, examination, diagnosis, investigation, prescription and management.

    “As a consultant the patient have the right to know everything about him or her but the only thing is whether he has right to case note which is another thing.

    “If a doctor treat patients it is the right of that patient if he or she has medical report, the doctor must oblige him details of what he has done, how to continue management of such ailment, but it is not right to give the patient his or her case note.

    “Case note belong to the hospital and it is supposed to be kept there, but if you want your record it could be typed, summarised and handed over to you,’’ Obembe said.

    On challenges encountered by patients in hospitals, Obembe urged aggrieved patients to channel their problems to the NMA office closer to them, Medical and Dental Council or the Ministry of Health to seek redress.

    “If any patient’s right is been impeded upon he is free to report either to NMA or the council. Such right is there and if it jeopardised there are so many ways you can claim these rights.

    “You can even go to court, NMA branch closer to you or the ministry of health, so court can order that the patient’s right should be restored.

    “NMA has monitoring unit which include the police, NMA and Director of Medical services in the state they supposed to take care of day to day welfare of patients in the state.

    “If at the state level you do not seem to get redress write straight to NMA headquarters in Abuja then we treat it,’’ he said.