By Justina Auta
Stakeholders in the health sector have been called upon to scale up and extend the National Health Insurance programme to other citizens, particularly the poor and most vulnerable in rural communities.
Mr Nathaniel Salifu, FCT Coordinator for the Control of Tuberculosis, made the call at a TB Network biannual media meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.
Salifu said Nigeria’s high burden of tuberculosis, TB-HIV co-infections, malaria, and HIV/AIDS necessitates the expansion.
He emphasised that the poor often lacked education and employment, making them unable to afford the high costs of frequent illnesses.
Salifu stressed the need to extend National Health Insurance to the vulnerable and poor to reduce avoidable deaths and improve access to healthcare services.
The Coordinator also urged community involvement to ensure sustainability and effectiveness of Primary Health Centres (PHCs).
“Community-Based Organisations working at the grassroots level should be complemented to ensure communities take ownership of facilities in their localities.”
Salifu highlighted the importance of robust action in addressing health system challenges.
“This includes strengthening infrastructure, securing financial resources, renewing political leadership, and fostering collaborations”
He also emphasised the need to scale up evidence-based interventions, such as Community-Led Monitoring, and adopt innovative service delivery models and technological adaptations.
Mrs Beatrice Shina-Oluna, a community-based volunteer, explained that they have been working with religious and traditional leaders to improve ownership of facilities and complement government efforts.
Mr Praise Yusuf, Nyanya Community Leader, stressed the need for stakeholders to prioritise access to healthcare services, especially for indigent persons and the less privileged.
“As one of the community leaders, we give so much attention to any organisation that prioritises having healthy community and equally having functional primary health facility.
“TB network advocacy have had significant and remarkable impact.”
The ATM Networks, including TB NETWORK, NEPWHAN, and ACOMIN, are collaborating with the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) on the COVID-19 Response Mechanism/Resilient and Sustainable System for Health (C19RM) Grant.
This grant aims to address health system gaps and enhance sustainable, efficient, and effective health outcomes by integrating communities and civil society organisations into the healthcare response. (NAN)