Obiageli Ezekweseli, presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), in her ‘Project Rescue Nigeria: The Manifesto’ has pledged to broaden the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) if elected in 2019.
In a 48-page document detailing her proposed programme for Nigeria, Ezekwesili says, “Our government will broaden the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to ensure universal coverage in a decade. Every Nigerian will be migrated in the system, starting with those currently earning income.”
The objective of the NHIS is to ensure that every Nigerian has access to good health care service, to protect families from the financial hardship of huge medical bills, to limit the rise in the cost of healthcare services and to ensure equitable distribution of health care costs among different income groups.
Despite the efforts of stakeholders in attaining these objectives, the coverage of the NHIS has struggled to take off with coverage numbers ranging from five to 10 percent of the entire population. Industry specialists continue to appeal to the Federal Government to enforce laws adequately to enable access of the remaining 90 percent uncovered Nigerians into the scheme.
“The population of citizens that are not enrolled in NHIS is an investment opportunity to anyone who has the assurance of a genuinely ordered policy by the Federal government to improve the health sector through insurance,” an industry expert says.
“We can pull foreign investments into HMOs by having clear policy directions on where the country is headed in terms of our health sector. Businessmen do not need to be told about a great opportunity. Foreign direct investments will flow into the sector once there is an enabling environment,” the expert adds.
On drawing investments into the country, the ACPN manifesto mentions that, “We will also attract at least three top-quality global health providers to be linked with the Nigerian Health Insurance Scheme in each sub-region.”
The general health sector policy objective in the manifesto was directed at reducing infant and maternal mortality and reducing medical tourism.
“The central plank of our health agenda is to build a functional health system that serves the needs of different segments of our population. The specific objectives include: to reverse and significantly reduce by 50 percent the negative trend of maternal and infant mortality rate as well as needless deaths caused by non-communicable diseases while also reducing the trend of medical tourism,” the ACPN manifesto says.
The National Health Insurance Scheme was set up under Act 35 of 1999 Constitution by the Federal government with the aim of improving the health of all Nigerians and ensure that affordable health care was available to all, irrespective of class, gender or social status. It came into operation in 2005 during the second term of President Obasanjo’s democratic rule.
IFEANYI JOHN
