COVID-19: Stakeholders call for investment in Nigeria’s health sector

The COVID-19 pandemic was no doubt a major pointer to the abysmal state of Nigeria’s public health infrastructure for preparedness and response to the outbreak of infectious diseases. Despite efforts made by the Nigerian government and organisations to improve this, stakeholders in Nigeria’s health sector warn that progress is low, leaving citizens vulnerable to more disease outbreaks.

Stakeholders expressed concern that Nigeria is a major hub for trade and travel, exposes the country to a variety of imported and endemic diseases and Nigeria must therefore intensify investment at ensuring epidemic preparedness and response (EPR).

This was made known at a stakeholder’s forum convened by the Global Health Advocacy (GHAI) – funded Prevent Epidemics (PE) Project in collaboration with Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development (LISDEL) with the theme; Repositioning the advocacy landscape for National Action Plan on Health Security (NAPHS) implementation.

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The forum which was held in Abuja was aimed at ensuring effective coordination of existing Civil societies, the media and private sector organisations for EPR financing; to chart a course of action to increasing to NAPHS-implementing ministries and agencies, among others.

Speaking at the forum, Kayafat Alawode, senior knowledge management and M&E advisor, PE project highlighted some factors and gaps that leave Nigeria susceptible to infectious disease outbreaks to include high population density; fragile macro-economic conditions (unemployment, poverty, insecurity and low economic indices); weak health system and inadequate financing for the health sector.

Others are ignorance; low adherence to disease control rules; limited access to social amenities and hygiene materials According to her, available statistics reveal that no fewer than 38 percent of households had hygiene facilities.

Alawode noted that Nigeria is still reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which the negative impact it had on the economy, employment, health, poverty level, inflation among others.

She said, “The economy generally retracted with a negative growth balance of-4.3 percent compared to the 2.2 percent growth reported in 2019.

“Adequately preparing for future epidemics and pandemics will require increased investment in epidemics preparedness and response.”

This is even as the country battles other infectious diseases such as cholera, monkeypox, Lassa fever, among several others.

Stakeholders also stated that the available laws on health Security are not robust enough to ensure epidemic preparedness in the country. They particularly noted that National Health Act which is the principal legal framework for health in the country also lacks clarity about ways to strengthen epidemic preparedness and response, while implementation of the National Action Plan for Health Security (2018-2022) is still at a suboptimal level.

Juliana Abude-Aribo, senior policy and advocacy advisor, PE, also decried the absence of national laws and policies for International Health Regulations (IHR) 4 implementation and the absence of multi-sectoral collaboration for emergency EPR.

On funding, Priscillia Ibekwe, deputy director, special duties, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) stressed that source of health financing in Nigeria is another major challenge.

Abude-Aribo disclosed that the NCDC is not adequately funded to carry out its mandate. She noted that the Act establishing the Centre is designed to be funded through annual appropriation from the federal government, including 2.5 percent of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF); but regrets that the revision of the BHCPF operational guidelines has excluded the NCDC from the beneficiaries of the BHCPF, thereby impeding the agency’s ability to sustain some of interventions.

She informed that in 2018, NCDC got over 361 million from BHCPF and therefore called for an increase in budgetary allocations to the NCDC.

Usman Mohammed, chairman, national health advocates on his part decried the lack of political will on the part of the government to address the challenges.

“Sources of financing are very key to achieving health security in Nigeria.
Nigeria have a lot of potential sources of revenue, but, what we always lack is the issue of political will, for the leadership to do the needful.

“There are bills before the presidency requiring presidential assent, which if done, will give the health sector more money to finance all these challenges we are having

He described the forum as timely, to push the political actors to do the needful.

Gafar Alawode, project director, GHAI- RTSL in his welcome address pointed out that if the Nigerian government could invest the same energy it used to respond to COVID-19, it could mobilise the same energy to look at longer-term plan for health security in the country.

Alawode noted that the overall goal of the plan is to improve EPR policy and financing in Nigeria through the implementation of the National Action Plan for Health Security.