The event, which was monitored virtually by PUNCH Healthwise had participants that include agencies, international partners, representatives of political parties and civil society organisations, speak on developing a ‘health manifesto’.
After the opening remarks, participants were shared in groups to draft a workable health manifesto that political elites can adopt as the electioneering year approaches.
At the end of the day, three groups came up with recommendations and action plans.
One of the groups’ recommendations was to, “Reduce medical tourism by 50 per cent through Public Private Partnership, medical manpower, training and boosting confidence in the health system,”
The group’s representative harped on the need to improve the functionality of the existing comprehensive cancer care centres to one per state.
Another group suggested that the National Health Insurance Scheme coverage should be scaled from seven per cent to 60 per cent, while the annual allocation for health be increased from an average of 5 per cent of the total budget to 15 per cent within the period.
The participants agreed that a five-man committee would be set up to review the agenda and recommendations.
However, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Muhammad Usman, described the targets as ‘too ambitious’.
“Some of the targets are too ambitious. 15 per cent allocation to health is not realisable. We could not achieve it when we were in the National Assembly,” he said.
Hon. Usman urged the forum to break the targets down to a four-year plan, and also create a different one for each state.
A Senior Health Advisor at the Nigeria Governors’ Forum Secretariat, Dr. Ahmad Abdulwahab, emphasised the need to look at specific interventions that will benefit the populace.
“The interventions to be prioritized on the health agenda should be politically correct, technically sound, and simple for the general public to understand,” he added.
Representatives of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, promised to include the recommendations in their parties’ manifestos.
Source: HealthWise
