By Zayamu Hassan
The fourth Legislative Summit on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is to focus on the need to prioritize health security in the Nigeria.
The Senate Committee Chairman on Health, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, who disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja, said plans have been concluded to hold the summit from May 23 to 25, 2021, in Abuja, with the theme: UHC and Health Security (HS): Two sides of a coin for an efficient health system.
The annual Legislative Summit on Health is a product of the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage which consists of primarily of legislators (National and States) with members of the Executive Arm of Government (State and National) and non-state actors collaborating to provide institutional contexts focused on the health sector.
It is, however, convened annually to provide a platform for Nigerian Legislators to confer to resolve matters pertaining to the resilience of the health sector to provide equitable, quality care to citizens.
According to Oloriegbe, “although the country is making attempts to take giant strides in its pursuit of Universal Health Coverage (UHC); these efforts and whatever achievements have been recorded could be quickly eroded if health security is not prioritized.
“This is obvious in the effect of the currently ravaging COVID-19 pandemic and other disease outbreaks that have greatly impacted the health system negatively.“
He further stressed that the approaches to ensure that health security is prioritized and at the same time the country’s UHC pursuit is not hindered is the focus of our discussions at this year’s 4th Annual Legislative Summit on Health.
“We will review the State of the health of the nation and the national health system; the role of adequate financing as the nexus for UHC and health security in Nigeria, and what opportunities exist for the Health Sector to leverage; and leveraging lessons from COVID-19 national and subnational responses to improve the health security landscape.
“It is our sincere hope that this year’s Summit to build on past successes to impact positively on the health sector and Nigeria as a whole,” he said.
The Senator disclosed that the Summits over the years, have continued to be a rallying point of learning, interaction and agenda setting for legislators and other key actors in the health sector across the country.
While commending partners including the World Health Organisation (WHO), European Union (EU), World Bank, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and many others for their continued support, Senator Oloriegbe said they have helped achieve laudable accomplishments in the provision of equitable and affordable healthcare in the country.
He said the summit has over the years, become a catalysts for recording many achievement including accountability for implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) guideline in line with the National Health Act; achieving the earmarking of the BHCPF from service-wide vote to first line charge and annual fiscal appropriations inclusive of the BHCPF (one percent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund).
Others includes; to provide a minimum package of basic health services to all Nigerians since the first summit was convened; deliberate actions by legislators on health and nutrition resulting in increased budgetary releases to the health sector in some states; 34 of 36 states have enacted legal frameworks to provide financial risk protection on healthcare.
