Senator seeks health insurance for Nigerians – The Punch
Published 16 February 2022
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, has advocated health insurance coverage for all Nigerians.
Oloriegbe said this at the strategic stakeholders meeting on Draft National Policy on Incentivising the Health Service Industry and Healthcare Investments organised by the Healthcare Federation Nigeria in Lagos.
Oloriegbe said it was unfortunate that health insurance coverage remained very poor in the country.
“There is the need to make health care at both public and private hospitals accessible for all. The government is trying its best to improve the working environments in hospitals.
“In terms of increasing salaries of doctors, it is not that easy; if you say you’ll increase the salaries of doctors, what about nurses, pharmacies and other health workers? In Nigeria, our salary system is based on certain general rules that if you have this qualification, this is what you can earn,” he said.
Oloriegbe added that there was the need for incentives as stimulants for health care professionals.
“That is why we also agreed here that the private sector has a role to play. If they organise better and they pay certain incentives, that will retain some of our best brains to stay here,” he said.
The President of HFN, Dr. Pamela Ajayi, urged the government to improve health funding in the country.
She said, “We have talked about certain policy issues that need to be changed including private-sector incentives, and certain bills that need to be passed.
“There is a lot the private sector is asking for. We cover everything from doctors to big pharma, manufacturing pharma, specialists, retail, big hospitals, nursing, biomedical engineering, psychiatry, veterinary.”
Ajayi added that a lot still needs to happen for the private sector to reach its ultimate goal, which according to her is to provide affordable and accessible care of excellent quality to Nigerians.
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