Worried by the poor state of Nigeria’s health sector, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has unveiled a strategic plan of between 2017 and 2022 that seeks to reverse Nigeria’s poor health outcomes with focus on the operationalisation of the National Health Act 2014 (NHACT).
The strategic plan also focuses on strengthening and improving healthcare delivery through effective collaboration of various health agencies with key focus on medical and educational research.
Briefing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, Ben Anyaene of the National Strategic Plan Implementation Committee of the NMA, said the plan also focused on how the health sector in Nigeria had to be operated for the benefit of the patients and Nigerians at large.
Anyaene said, “The plan seeks to address the emerging health issues in the country. The plan is not just for NMA. The NMA is providing the platform to enable everyone contribute his or her own bit to the enhancement of the health sector.
“We need to reach out to all other stakeholders to make sure we work together to improve the actual health outcomes in the country.”
Also, Nkata Chuku, a health expert who spoke on the thematic areas the plan focused, also said “the plan seeks to address and harmonise professional relationships with various health professionals having the right approach.
”The NMA has continuously served as a pressure group. We even led a delegation to the National Assembly to ensure the provisions in the National Health Act are made available to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to start delivering the National Health Act.”
Nevertheless, stakeholders have expressed concern that Nigeria is a country with high disease burden and a weak health system resulting in appalling outcomes, including average life expectancy of 48-52 years.
Regrettably also, Nigeria accounts for 10 percent of global maternal and child deaths, even though Nigeria has only 2 percent of the world population.
BusinessDay findings reveal that only 4.3 percent of the 2016 national budget, which represents a 3.73 percent annual decline compared with 2015, and a far cry from 15 percent recommended by the African Union in the Abuja declaration for African countries allocation for health sector in 2000.
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