The Guild of Medical Directors (GMD) has expressed worry about the low coverage of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) across the country.The GMD announced this after an emergency meeting of its national executive, presided over by its National President, Prof. Femi Dokun-Babalola.
The guild called for a speedy resolution of the face-off between the Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
It assured Nigerians that it would ensure the delivery of quality health care across the country.
The Federal Government, through the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, ordered the suspension of NHIS Chief Executive Officer, Prof Usman Yusuf, for three months with immediate effect.
Advocating the introduction of mandatory enrolment by eligible Nigerian families, GMD also called for the implementation of the National Health Act and its domestications at the state level.
The guild expressed dissatisfaction at the current situation, which it said “tends to affect the smooth running of the scheme and thus leads to negative consequences for enrolees of the scheme”.
Although GMD said it had no objection to the current structure of the scheme involving the NHIS, the Health Management Organisations (HMOs), the service providers (hospitals) and the enrolees, but it said there is need to fine-tune the relationship between the affected organisations to achieve high quality service to enrolees.
It advised government to rectify the anomalies hindering the smooth functioning of the scheme.
In anticipation of the increased load of enrolees, GMD said there is a need to accredit more private institutions, adding that a patient should not be made to travel over five kilometres from his home to access primary care.
GMD hospitals, which Dokun-Babalola said account for about 60 per cent of health care in the country, “is unfortunately not even in the national or state health council”.
It said: “Primary health care should be left to the primary health care centres and private hospitals and taken away from the secondary (general hospitals) and tertiary care providers (teaching hospitals, specialist hospitals and Federal Medical Centres).”
source:Swankpharm
