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President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has stated that for
Nigeria to provide Universal Healthcare for all its citizens, its current
disjointed healthcare set-up must be urgently reviewed.
Saraki, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Print Media,
Chuks Okocha, stated this when Executive Director of the National Primary
Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, briefed the leadership
of the Senate on the Community Health Influencers, Promoters and Service
providers (CHIPS) – a programme of the agency.
“I was a governor in my state for eight years and I have practical
experience. If we have these pockets of projects scattered across
different programs in the healthcare sector we will not achieve what we
are meant to achieve.
“We must have something that is sustainable — something that we are sure
will always be maintained, always have provisions for human resources and
always have adequate funding. This must be a holistic approach,” Saraki
stated.
Saraki also challenged the Executive Director and all agencies under the
Federal Ministry of Health to come up with a comprehensive programme that
integrates all existing healthcare programmes in the country under one
umbrella for better coordination and funding.
“The National Assembly will ensure that the health sector gets 1% of the
Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) for healthcare. However, right now, I am
told that one of the major issues that is coming up is where exactly that
money is going to be housed. There must be a clear message on how these
funds will be applied.
“What should guide all our decisions and actions and programmes is that
every Nigerian deserves universal and affordable healthcare — particularly
at the primary healthcare level.
“For a country with our size, our economy, and our kind of GDP, primary
healthcare must happen. We have no excuse as a country and as a government
that every Nigerian cannot go and get primary healthcare.
“We owe primary healthcare to all Nigerians. Citizens who cannot afford to
feed themselves now also have the challenge of trying to pay for primary
healthcare. This is unacceptable. We must be able to say that you can
worry about anything else, but primary healthcare must not be something
that you worry about as a citizen of Nigeria,” Saraki said.
The Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development
Agency, Dr. Faisal Shuaib also commended the President of the Senate for
his leadership in ensuring that 1% of the consolidated revenue fund is
appropriated towards primary healthcare in the 2018 budget.
“This is an unprecedented show of leadership that will lead to the
provision of basic healthcare to millions of Nigerians. This is something
that we have yearned for for several decades. Thank you very much Mr.
Senate President,” Dr. Faisal said.