The Senate has directed the Federal Ministry of Employment to put in place policies that would compel employers of labour to procure health insurance package for their employees.
The upper legislative chamber also urged the Federal Government to increase budgetary allocation to the Primary Health Care in the country and directed the Federal Ministry of Health to ensure that the health insurance scheme is accessible to all Nigerians.
It said the policy which must be embraced by management of the public and private firms and establishments, would improve the well-being of workers.
The resolutions followed the adoption of a motion moved by Oluremi Tinubu (AP, Lagos) during Thursday plenary.
She described PHCs as grassroots, community based initiative that provides health care services to communities, noting that it was universally accepted that access to health care for all was only possible through prevalence and accessibility of PHCs.
She explained that the PHC was adopted in 1988 by the National Health Policy to provide promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative services.
The lawmaker expressed concerns that a lot of the problems in Nigeria’s health sector could be traced to low performance of the PHC facilities.
She said: “The World Bank Service Delivery Indicators Survey showed that the PHC washampered by lack of financial resources, infrastructure deficit, insufficiency/lack of drugs, equipment and vaccines, among other encumbrances.”
The lawmaker lamented that due to the failure of PHC and the belief that it was for lower-income earners, there had been an influx of patients in Secondary and Tertiary Health Care Facilities in the country.
In their contributions, other lawmakers urged relevant stakeholders in the country to join hands and work towards proper funding of the Primary health care, for accessible, affordable and efficient service delivery to Nigerians.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, who presided over the session, stressed the importance of the primary health care to Nigerians particularly the rural dwellers.
He noted that the 8th National Assembly acknowledged this by setting aside one percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund in the national budget to boost the provision of basic primary healthcare services across the country.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
