Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has advocated stronger collaboration with private medical practitioners to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, made the call on Friday in Abuja at the 25th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the National Guild of Medical Directors.
The theme of the annual conference is “Achieving Universal Health Coverage”, with sub theme ” Rethinking Business Models For Private Practice in Nigeria”.
The minister, who was represented by Dr Sanni Gwazo, Director in the Minister’s office, called on the private sector to provide enabling environment that would help to drive efficient health sector.
Ehanire acknowledged that collaboration with the private sector would be more effective in delivering quality healthcare services in the country.
He noted that it was key for government to tap into the financial viability of the private sector, noting that there was need for government to leverage on the private sector in advocating more funding for health in the country.
The minister said this would enable Nigeria’s health sector to scale up quality in the health care system.
Dr Yusuf Sununu, the Chairman, House Committee on Healthcare Services, said that the legislature would maintain an ongoing dialogue with professional groups and associations in the health sector.
According to him, this is aimed at addressing issues of labour relations, welfare and quality service delivery.
“The House of Representatives will fund efforts to establish Special Hospitals, research centres and rapid response units.
“They will be used for treatment, study, management and control of serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, renal disease, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Lassa fever and cardiovascular diseases.
”The House would ensure adequate funding of the health sector, improve budgetary provision and effective oversight in general, particularly with regard to efforts at disease prevention across the country.
“All existing health care laws will be reviewed for necessary reforms and amendments,” he assured
He called for necessary action to support and effectively monitor the health sector to ensure that it met international best standards of healthcare provision and medical ethics.
Sununu, however, called on the Guild of Medical Directors to continue its engagement with his office to identify challenges and to proffer viable solutions to address them.
“My doors will be wide open to welcome you in the interest of the nation as we navigate toward ensuring health for All Nigerians.
“Put on your thinking caps to X-ray the challenges on the roles of the private sector.
“You should consider options like Public-Private collaboration, healthcare financing and to engage in multi-stakeholder dialogues all geared toward achieving UHC always, Sununu said.
The keynote speaker, Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Director General of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), highlighted critical points towards achieving UHC in the country.
Ihekweazu said that UHC and health security were two sides of the same coin, adding that they required cooperation between public and private healthcare providers.
The NCDC boss said that a weak health infrastructure anywhere posed a threat everywhere, stressing that a risk to government was a risk to everyone.
In his address, Prof. Olufemi Babalola, National President of the Guild of Medical Directors (GMD), said that the meeting was holding at a very auspicious time.
According to him, this is the time when the country is facing the problem of how to deliver adequate and qualitative health care to the teeming masses.
Babalola said that the challenges informed the choice of theme, while assuring that the meeting would provide practical solutions which could be recommended to the Federal Government for study and possible implementation.
Speaking on the sub theme, he highlighted two pertinent observations.
” It is important to build business administration into the medical school curriculum,because many doctors graduate without being adequately equipped to run their own hospitals as businesses.
” In fact, a knowledge of sound business principles is necessary even in the public space, to run departments and the affairs of government.
” I want to note that private practice needs encouragement from government. We hope to get the land and space to work. We hope that we will be free from the albatross of multiple taxation,” he said.
Chairperson of GMD, FCT Chapter, Dr Chiro Nwana, said the conference provides a unique opportunity for stakeholders to come up with practical solutions to overcome challenges in the health sector.
She said one of the ways the government had engaged the private health facilities was through the NHIS where enrollees in the scheme could seek care in some of private hospitals, adding that there is low enrollment rate.
Nwana said that the improvement of enrollment could be achieved if patients were enrolled in facility of their choice as the private sector provided over 50 per cent of the healthcare in the country.
