LEADING experts and policy makers in the health sector said on Wednesday that the National Health Bill, when signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan, would ensure access to improved healthcare funding for the masses.The experts, who spoke in Calabar, Cross River State capital, on day-two of the on-going workshop on 'Improving financing access to maternal, newborn and child health services for the poor in Nigeria', identified poverty as a major challenge in providing affordable healthcare services for the vulnerable group, especially women and children.The bill, according to them, would ensure access to funding from the consolidated fund of the federal accounts and commit the three-tiers of government to funding the health of the populace.Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Fatima Bamidele, said the fund would be targeted at scaling up primary healthcare services and extending national health insurance to all Nigerians.She observed that though there were several issues initially raised by stakeholders against the bill, many of which had been addressed, 'we are now waiting for Mr. President to pass the bill into law'.Bamidele added: 'When you have a bill of this nature, it is natural for people to raise issues like that of its funding. If you do not address that and what percentage is coming from the government, then you will not go anywhere'.The important aspect as it immediately concerns the poor is that the bill involves the three-tiers of government to providing quality and affordable healthcare.'There is the need for ensuring continued commitment of federal, state and local government areas to improving our people's financial access to health services. Governmental commitment is simply critical even as we promote necessary buy-in by the Organised Private Sector (OPS) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)'.Estimates show that unplanned expenditures by average Nigerian on health are approximately 70 per cent of total expenditure on health. The high expenditure has increased the vulnerability of the poor to greater poverty, where over 50 per cent live on less than two dollars a day.This, according to experts, worsens the plight of health-seeking Nigerians, accounting for why 10 per cent of global mortality occurs in Nigeria; under-five mortality rate is 157/1000 live births; maternal mortality rate is 545/100,000 live births; infant mortality rate is 75/1000 live births and newborn mortality rate is 40/100 live births, among others.Senate Committee Chairman on Health, Giang Dantong, added that challenges of healthcare and its funding are huge and that it is a collective responsibility, which the state and local governments must pro-actively tackle along with the Federal Government.Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dogo Mohammed, said there were several mechanisms to deploy in strengthening healthcare in the country, 'but there is need for collective responsibility at all levels'.
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