Universal Health Coverage As The Health Agenda For President Buhari’s Second Term -By Toluwani Oluwatola

At a conference organized by Nigeria Health Watch in June 2015, Robert Yates, a political health economist and senior Research fellow at Chatham House, London asked if President Buhari will become Nigeria’s hero for Universal Health Coverage having just begun his first term in office. Four years down the line, the president has made strides in the country health sector including Ensuring health security through strengthening the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, the successful commencement of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and construction of a state of the art cancer treatment centre among others but he is yet to set the nation on the path of Universal Health Coverage. Having commenced his final term in office, it is about time the president made this a priority.

Universal Health Coverage which means people are able to get the health services they need when they need it without suffering any financial hardship, is the goal of health and healthcare globally. The push for commitment to UHC by the Buhari government can come at no better time than this as the 72^nd World Health Assembly held in May 2019 resolved that Universal Health Coverage can only be achieved through public financing, it is therefore necessary for Mr. President and his team to expedite actions on this by:

1. Political Commitment: Universal health coverage is more of a political commitment and it takes the resolve of the man at the centre to make it a dream come true. Most nations that have attained Universal health coverage made such commitments while they were still developing nations with GDP per capital similar to that of Nigeria. The time is therefore ripe for president Buhari to make a political commitment to this noble cause and leave his footprints in the sands of time.
2. Increasing Budgetary Allocations to Health: During president’s Buhari’s first term, budgetary allocation to health through the four years has been less than 5% of the entire budgetary allocation. This is despite the fact that the government is signatory to the 2001 Abuja Declaration which states that 15% of the budget should be devoted to health. The government need to do more in this regard and should seek alternative means to finance healthcare, sin taxes should be introduced on products like alcohol, tobacco and sugar products in order to provide more fund for health, the government can also explore options like devoting a percentage of foreign remittances to funding health among many others. The time is ripe to ensure there is enough local capital to fund the health of Nigerians.
3. Repositioning NHIS for better productivity: The Nigeria Health Insurance Scheme which is saddled with the responsibility of providing financial cover for health expenses of Nigerians is one that has been ridden with crisis in the past few years. Little wonder it has not been able to expand its coverage of Nigerians beyond less than 10% of the population. In the best interest of the nation, Mr. President should ensure the agency becomes better in the next four years by appointing a capable head and ensuring more Nigerians especially in the informal sector becomes covered by this scheme.

The successful implementation of Universal Health Coverage holds many benefits for any nation, Nigeria not being an exception. As the Minister of finance of Japan, Taro Aso rightly puts it, “it is the implementation of Universal Health Coverage by Japan in the 1960s that placed Japan on the path of economic prosperity”, a healthy population is also productive. It also holds political benefits for Mr. President, in the words of Robert Yates, “leaders who implement UHC remain immortal in the mind of the citizens”. Having been in public service for so long, I am of the opinion that President Buhari deserves nothing less than this as a parting gift. UHC provides a viable platform, Mr. President, UTILIZE IT.

Toluwani Oluwatola writes in from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.

Toluwanioluwatola@gmail.com