The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, says the Federal Government is in the process of pool-procuring essential medicines to ensure quality, availability, and affordability of drugs in public facilities.
Pate, who said this on Thursday in Abuja at an event held in commemoration of the Universal Health Coverage Day, with the theme: ‘Health on the house of government, noted that the three-year Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value-Chain was unveiled a year ago to save lives, reduce physical and financial pain, and produce health for all Nigerians.
The Minister said, We recognise the increasing cost of health care (services and drugs), and to provide succour to the population in the short-term, under the PVAC, we are in the process of pool-procuring essential medicines to ensure quality, availability, and affordability of these drugs within our public facilities.
In the medium and long-term, the local manufacturing of pharmaceutical products and commodities will help reduce costs and ensure availability within the country. This contributes to UHCs goal of reducing the financial burden of health services.
He also emphasised that the government is undertaking deliberate and well-considered measures that will impact Nigerias economy positively and reduce both physical and financial pain, which aligns with the goal of the UHC to reduce out-of-pocket health expenditure and impoverishment from healthcare spending.
Over the last year, the prices of food, drugs, transportation, and subsistence have increased. All of which impact health seeking behaviour, health outcomes and cost of health services. There will be a cost to achieve the plans laid out. The required revenue must be raised responsibly without causing Nigerians additional pain.
The latest National Health Account expenditure data by the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimate the total health expenditure per Nigerian at under $100.
According to him, “The Government spends $15.5 per capita, and external development assistance accounts for $10.5 per capita. This means Nigerians spent over $70 per capita. There needs to be a radical shift in this distribution. We must transfer risks and financial burdens from individuals to governments and their implementation schemes”.
He further said the theme of the 2024 UHC is a reminder that the government must assume a more significant role by increasing its own spending, stewardship, and leadership, thereby shifting the burden from the household, as no other stakeholder is better placed to do this.
He stated that President Bola Tinubu has continued to expand healthcare coverage to Nigerians and transfer costs from individuals to the government in pursuance of his administrations goal within the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
He added that the administration has increased the number of lives enrolled in Health Insurance by 14% as of Q3 of 2024.
