FG unveils medical palliative scheme to boost healthcare delivery

The Federal Government has launched a medical palliative scheme in a bid to enhance access to healthcare delivery and alleviate the economic hardship faced in the country.

This initiative, led by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) provides free medical treatment, drugs, surgeries, and foodstuff to patients.

The FCT administration has also outlined a sustainability plan to ensure the scheme’s long-term success and impact on the well-being of the people.

Adedolapo Fasawe, the mandate secretary of the FCT health and environment secretariat, speaking during the distribution of palliatives at the Gwarimpa General Hospital, Abuja, acknowledged the government’s awareness of the nation’s challenges, stating, “It is not news to all of us that Nigeria is going through a tough period right now. We have a government that is not ignorant of this. We have a government that is not pretending not to see what is going on.”

Fasawe further explained the rationale behind the medical palliatives, highlighting that many patients were using money meant for medicine to buy food. “So, we got together and wrote a memo to Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister, to approve the concept of medical palliatives. And the minister will not approve unless you show him a sustainability plan. And we were able to convince him that the health insurance scheme for the vulnerable, which is a percentage of the country’s national budget, can support us in the medical palliative scheme.”

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The mandate secretary assured that all treatments, medicines, and necessary medical services would be provided free of charge during the outreach.

The scheme aims to give patients enough medicines to last two months, allowing them to allocate funds for other necessities.

Fasawe noted, “This will be paid for by the health insurance scheme. But you can only benefit from this if you register for the FCT health insurance scheme. The FCT health insurance scheme is a scheme whereby a family of four will pay a certain amount and they will get free healthcare for the rest of the year.”

Muhammad Pate, minister of health and social welfare, highlighted the government’s efforts over the past 12 months to improve the health of all Nigerians.

Pate disclosed that the government had expanded primary health care centres through direct facility financing to 8,800 centres across all 36 states.

“In the last one year, we have enrolled more than two million Nigerians to have insurance funded through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) of the Federal Government under the able leadership of President Bola Tinubu”, he said.

On tackling malnutrition, Pate revealed the establishment of a ministerial task force and mobilisation of resources to provide therapeutic foods and supplements. He recalled that the Federal Government raised additional resources, $30 million through the ANRIM programme to provide ready-to-use therapeutic foods and domestic versions.