Buhari, Nigerians eager to see changes in health sector – Health Minister

The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has said that President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigerians are eager to see result of positive changes in the nation’s health sector.

Speaking at the strategic stakeholders’ forum for HealthCare Providers (HCPs) organised by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Abuja on Thursday, Ehanire said that significant improvement is very key to president Buhari’s administration, following his determination to turn things around.

According to the minister, significant improvement of the socio-economic well-being of Nigerians is very dear to the president, especially in the second tenure of his administration.

While commending the remarkable effort of the Executive Secretary of the NHIS, Prof Mohammed Sambo to reposition the scheme, Dr. Ehanire, expressed confidence that in the end, the NHIS will receive not just a facelift, but also a total recovery.

He said, ‘’All eyes are on the health sector to undertake self-assessments on many fronts towards repositioning itself for the task ahead. This is to be expected, considering the strategic position of the sector with regards to social well-being and human capital development.

‘’You will all recall that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) has been of particular concern in recent times, following some protracted crisis with significant impact on its leadership and operations.

“It is on the strength of this that I wish to seize this opportunity to call on all stakeholders to take full advantage of the reforms to engage in frank conversations around the issues that have dogged the wheels of the Scheme in the past, so that we can chart a better course as we go into the future’’.

He also urged the NHIS to do the right thing by ensuring that enrollees enjoy the basic care at medical facilities.

“This is particularly so, when you consider that the providers are the ones among the stakeholders with the most frequent and intimate enrolee encounter.

The import of this is that most impressions of the enrolee about NHIS are formed from their experiences at the service point, giving the providers the privilege to influence largely the image of the Scheme.

Indeed, the testimonies of enrollees about their experiences with providers are critical about how attractive or not the Scheme appears to the general and target publics”. He added.

He then assured the stakeholders of government support in the effort towards making Health Insurance work.

On his part, the Minister of State, Dr. Olorunmibe Mamora charged all NHIS healthcare providers on the need to provide qualitative healthcare service for the enrolles.

Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the NHIS, Prof Mohammed Sambo said that the meeting is an important one, which is intended to bring all of stakeholders to a common forum, where issues bordering on healthcare service delivery to all Nigerians can freely be ventilated.

“In the course of this engagement, we shall look at ourselves in the eyes and ask pertinent questions with the aim of identifying the points that failed to connect with the fundamental objectives of the Scheme and provide solutions accordingly.

‘’I therefore urge the healthcare providers here present to roll up their sleeves, for the task which is ahead of us is enormous.

It is pertinent to remind you that, the provision of qualitative and affordable healthcare service delivery to all Nigerians through the NHIS is one of the key priority areas of the administration President Buhari, which aligns with the global agenda for achieving Universal Health Coverage advocated by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“In this regard, the healthcare providers no doubt play a pivotal role in achieving this objective’’, he said.