Health Agency rolls out 10-year road map for attainment of Universal coverage

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), has rolled out a 10-year roadmap to significantly reduce out-of-pocket expenses and drive the attainment of Universal health coverage in Nigeria by 2030.

Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director, NPHCDA who shared this road map during the ministerial Media Engagement(2021-2030) on Monday in Abuja, said for Nigeria to achieve UHC, it must commit at least 5% of GDP to health expenditure, must reach 90% insurance coverage and Out-of-pocket Expenditure (OOPE) must not exceed 40%.

Shuaib however regrets that Nigeria is only committing 3 .76% of GDP to health, and has only achieved a little over 5% insurance coverage while OOPE is at 77.5%

“For Nigeria to be on the path to UHC, public funding for PHC must expand, while reliance on out-of-pocket expenditure must decline” he stressed.

He said the Agency in collaboration with States, LGAs, and critical stakeholders and MDAs, will be implementing a 4_p0int agenda for the next 10 years, which includes; includes; PHC revitalization and HRH; Improved Technology for PHC Data, Services, and Vaccine Distribution; Social and Behavioural Change Communication; Post-Polio PHC System Strengthening.

The ED while noting that PHCs are the foundation of UHC said they are currently underutilised because they lack the critical human resources and facilities, further overstretching the secondary and Tertiary health care facilities.

Read also: Agency develops monitoring App to aid inspection of health facilities

Shuaib said improving Primary Health Care delivery could significantly improve maternal mortality rates over the next the 10 year period – with up to 110,540 lives saved.

“Improving PHC delivery could mean up to 3.1 million under 5 deaths could be averted over the next 10 years. An additional 2.05 million under 5 deaths and an additional 1.03 million neonatal could be averted over the next 10 years if the Optimal scale-up of PHC was implemented

“This represents a significant leap from the projected 69,819 lives saved if things remain the same”, the ED said.

The ED noted that no primary healthcare centre have been revitalised four years later after the pledge by President Muhammadu Buhari to revitalise 10,000 PHCs in January 2017. Shuaib informed that about 4,000 PHCs have so far only been renovated, but grossly lacking in critical human resources.

He said the federal government has worked out a new redesign for the revitalization of PHCs in each political ward across the country.

“Almost 4000 have been renovated since 2017, but revitalised is not revitalization, it goes beyond that, there is a clear difference between renovation and revitalization”, he said.

Osagie Ehanire, Minister of health on his part said not a lot of sustainable progress can be made in Primary health, without the platforms on which all crucial services, including immunization, are predicated, which is the Primary Health Care Centres.

The minister said Nigeria’s health system has not fared so badly so far in the global covid19 outbreak, but said the country have good reason to also examine it’s not-so-strong Health system.