The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has urged the Federal Government of Nigeria to ensure the full implementation of the provisions of the National Health Act (NHA) 2014.

This call was made during a stakeholders review meeting for the implementation of the Act which held in Abuja.

The meeting was part of the activities for the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement programme of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID-SCALE) implemented by a CSJ project tagged: “Improving the Realization of the Right to Health in Nigeria”.

The project was implemented at the federal level and in seven focal states of Sokoto, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Imo, Ekiti, Bauchi and Rivers.

The Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice, Eze Onyekpere, highlighted the transformative potential of the Act in relation to efforts aimed at improving healthcare delivery in Nigeria.

According to Onyekpere, the NHA, aimed at regulating and developing the National Health System, seeks to protect and promote the right of Nigerians to access quality healthcare services.

He noted that setting standards for health services and promoting cooperation among healthcare providers, the Act aligns with international obligations to achieve the right to health progressively.

He said: “Key provisions of the NHA include empowering the Federal Ministry of Health to prepare strategic health and human resource plans, establishing the National Council on Health to prioritize basic health services and advise the government on health matters, and creating the National Tertiary Health Institutions Standards Committee to improve tertiary hospitals’ development and performance.”

Onyekpere noted that the full implementation of the NHA is a crucial step towards achieving a healthier Nigeria.

“With strong political will, collaboration, and public awareness, the Act has the potential to revolutionize the healthcare landscape, ensuring equitable access to quality healthcare services for all Nigerians”, he said.

The project’s goal was to contribute to improvements in the realization of the right to health in Nigeria through enhancing respect for extant laws and policies, reforming laws and policies as well as mainstreaming transparency and accountability in public health sector expenditure.

The Act’s full implementation offers a range of benefits, such as universal healthcare coverage, improved health outcomes, a more efficient healthcare system, patient rights protection, and health workforce development.

It also emphasizes health promotion and disease prevention strategies, stakeholder engagement, and public participation in healthcare decision-making.

One critical aspect to enhance healthcare access is increasing health insurance enrollment. Currently, less than 18 million Nigerians or 8.5 per cent of the population have enrolled in public and private health insurance schemes.

Stakeholders must work together to raise awareness, simplify enrollment processes, and allocate more resources to the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) to ensure the widest coverage possible.

The meeting also addressed the concerning trend of public officials seeking medical treatment abroad at public expense, contrary to the NHA. Such practices strain public funds, perpetuate inequality, and erode public trust in the local healthcare system.

To address this, strict enforcement of the Act’s provisions and penalties for violations are necessary, along with investments to improve domestic healthcare services.

At the advent of the current administration, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) had proposed a comprehensive health agenda for President Bola Tinubu.

The agenda set was expected to address the challenges posed by inadequate funding, rapid population growth, and the fiscal crisis, which have resulted in poor health indicators and an alarming out-of-pocket health expenditure rate of 70.52%.

Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is a knowledge institution, being a non-governmental, non-profit and non-partisan organisation. It was established to introduce professionalism in civil society work and to use social entrepreneurship to provide cutting edge services to enhance and deepen economic, social and political change.

Source: The Guardian