Well being consultants in Nigeria have referred to as for pressing and coordinated reforms to maintain well being funding within the face of shrinking fiscal area and declining donor assist.
The decision was made throughout a webinar on Wednesday titled “Investing in Well being in a Restricted Fiscal House,” hosted by the Nigeria Well being Watch, in partnership with PREMIUM TIMES and The Punch Newspaper.
The webinar, moderated by the Editor of Well being and Improvement desk at PREMIUM TIMES, by Nike Adebowale-Tambe, introduced collectively policymakers, improvement companions, and civil society organisations to discover sensible methods for bettering effectivity, accountability, and worth for cash within the nation’s well being sector.
Common well being protection
In her opening remarks, Mrs Adebowale-Tambe stated the push for common well being protection (UHC) should now meet the realities of restricted assets.
For years, she famous, Nigeria has aimed to make sure that each citizen can entry high quality healthcare with out monetary hardship, but information continues to inform a unique story.
“Out-of-pocket spending nonetheless accounts for over 75 per cent of all well being expenditure, one of many highest on the earth,” she stated.
“Which means many households nonetheless bear the complete price of care whilst donor assist continues to say no.”
Mrs Adebowale-Tambe added that as international help shrinks, significantly following shifts in US international well being priorities, Nigeria should strengthen its home financing programs.
One of many authorities’s main commitments on the 2025 Nationwide Well being Financing Dialogue, she stated, is to enrol 44 million Nigerians into medical health insurance by 2030, a goal that displays each the urgency and alternative of this second.
Sector-wide method
The Senior Programme Director and Nation Director for Outcomes for Improvement (R4D), Felix Obi, stated the Sector-Vast Method (SWAp) beneath the well being renewal initiative has created a possibility for higher coordination between the federal government and improvement companions.
In response to him, for the primary time in years, Nigeria now has a unified plan, funds, and monitoring framework for well being spending, following the signing of the Well being Sector Renewal Compact in December 2023.
“The compact introduced collectively governors, the federal authorities, and donor companies beneath one widespread framework,” he stated.
“It represents a brand new stage of alignment and coordination that may make each naira rely.”
He defined that prior to now, most donor companies operated independently, funding initiatives primarily based on their very own international coverage pursuits quite than Nigeria’s strategic priorities.
The brand new method, he stated, will assist handle duplication and enhance effectivity throughout the well being system.
Mr Obi stated Nigeria should now concentrate on translating the nationwide framework into concrete state-level actions.
He harassed that implementation stays the weakest hyperlink in Nigeria’s well being financing efforts, urging state governments to align their budgets with the nationwide compact and prioritise accountability.
Past philanthropy
The Chief Government Officer of the African Enterprise Coalition for Well being (ABCHealth), Mories Atoki, stated Nigeria’s restricted fiscal capability requires a recent perspective that views well being not merely as a social obligation however as a strategic financial sector.
Ms Atoki emphasised that Nigeria should start to see well being as an funding that drives productiveness, employment, and nationwide progress, including that companies ought to transfer past philanthropy and take deliberate steps to co-invest within the well being ecosystem.
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She recognized three key areas the place non-public sector involvement might take advantage of influence: modern financing, operational effectivity, and native manufacturing.
She defined that mechanisms comparable to well being bonds, blended finance, and influence funding funds may help de-risk investments and entice capital into high-priority areas like diagnostics, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and digital well being infrastructure.
Past financing, Ms Atoki harassed the significance of constructing native manufacturing capability for important medicines and consumables.
She famous that such investments would scale back import dependence, create jobs, and strengthen Nigeria’s well being safety.
Concerning the webinar
Amid rising issues over Nigeria’s well being financing gaps, Nigeria Health Watch, in collaboration with PREMIUM TIMES and the Punch newspaper, hosted a high-level dialogue on sustainable well being financing.
The dialogue highlighted the necessity for coordinated motion and modern financing mechanisms to make sure that each naira spent on well being interprets into measurable influence and progress in the direction of common well being protection.
