Establish health insurance to achieve Universal Coverage, Don tells states, LG

The Chairman Association of Public Health Physicians of Nigeria, Prof. Benjamin Uzochukwu, National, has urged states and local governments to establish health insurance to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for all.

Uzochukwu made the call in a lecture he delivered at the Award Ceremony and Gather Together of Community Medicine Department of Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUTH), Parklane in Enugu.

The title of the lecture was: “Universal Health Coverage (UHC): Prospects and Challenges’’.

Uzochukwu, who is also a lecturer with the Community Medicine Department of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), said that the huge pool of fund to ensure that everybody gets protected under a health-safety net, which only UHC could guaranty, could be got through health insurance model.

He noted that the Federal Government had done well in establishing and funding the National Health Insurance but regretted that it only serves a few negligible number of the population (mostly federal workers and their immediate families).

“The benefit of the UHC is that it covers everyone in the health-safety net especially the indigent population that cannot borne the cost of qualitative healthcare, which makes it universal.

“It ensures that the health sector and system is standardized since it serve the need of everyone without discrimination and countries like Germany, Sweden and England had succeeded in providing healthcare to their people through this means.

“So, every state and local government should strive to pass their health insurance bill and make a pool fund contribution that will help to bear the financial burden of funding qualitative healthcare for all,’’ he said.

Uzochukwu, however, identified some of the challenges facing the successful implementation of the health insurance scheme, which included: poor political will/accountability; leadership issues; leakages of funds, drugs and other medical consumables and corruption.

In an address, Provost of ESUTH College of Medicine, Prof. Anthony Ugochukwu, thanked the Community Medicine Department for coming up with the idea of honoring its consultants and bringing people of all works of life to listen to a lecture meant to strengthen the health system.

“I am proud of the department for their oneness and unity of purpose, which had made it a department to reckon with in the college both in practice and innovative ideas to push community medicine to a new frontier,’’ he said.

Earlier, Dr. Eddy Ndubuagu, the Head of Department of Community Medicine Department of ESUTH, said that the department through the ceremony set out to do more advocacies on UHC.

“We as community health physicians want to see how and what can be done to achieve UHC by making the common man in the village have access to qualitative healthcare,’’ Ndubuagu said.

He noted that the department set out to recognize two of its students, who started from the beginning and have study to the stage of being consultants and had also being employed to be lecturers in the department.

“Thirdly, we want to recognize and honour our professors in the department, who have taught so many students in the course of the years and are still helping us (the department) till now in all ramifications,’’ he said.

Six people were honoured at the event, which included Dr Chinonye Orji and Dr Arinze Onyia, who are students turned consultants/lecturers of the department.

Others are: Prof. Onwuasibe, Prof. Obionu, Prof. S.E. Asogwa and Dr. Osita Okonkwo.