Health is a right.
This is a fact. However, that seems not to be the case in most countries, especially the developing countries like Nigeria. It is still herculean to get access to quality healthcare in some parts of Africa.
Non communicable diseases account for 67% of deaths in low-income and middle income countries. However the slightest increase in health funding (even 1%) can make a significant dent in these figures.
We may be able to deliver world class healthcare, but it is not made available to all citizens, and a wide scale and inexcusable injustice will have been committed. Access to basic healthcare is not just a health issue; it is a human rights issue.
Nigeria provides healthcare cover for only 3% of its population; while countries such as Rwanda have achieved 90% coverage. Nigeria must take its cue from countries such as Kenya, where the National Hospitals Insurance Fund has been established to give the very poor access to both formal and informal providers of healthcare through the Household Insurance Subsidy Programme.
The expansion of Nigeria’s health insurance programme is paramount. It will require innovative financing in partnership with the private sector. Enrolment in the insurance system by all formal healthcare providers – as in the Kenyan system – must be compulsory.
There will be numerous challenges to achieving this, but compulsory cover will be the only way to achieve the critical mass required to at least partially fund the basic healthcare requirements for every Nigerian.
All citizens, no matter where they live or who they are, should be able to access quality healthcare services without facing financial hardship.
Apart from public funding and the admirable efforts of the private health sector, we owe it to ourselves to secure our health as much as it’s within our power. Click the links below to learn some of the ways you, as an individual, can do this:
What You Should Know About Sickle Cell Anaemia
Urinary Tract Infection: Is Anyone Really Safe?
Your Blood Pressure, Your Lifestyle
Lack of Sleep: A Public Health Epidemic
Everything You Need to Know about Malaria
About Us
The Flying Doctors Nigeria is a member of the British Safety Council that specializes in providing medical solutions such as air ambulance and medical evacuation, ground ambulance procurement and leasing, remote medical services such a medical staffing, online company clinic set-up, site clinic management, occupational health, medical evacuation insurance and other health consultancy services for the oil & gas industry as well as other corporate, military and non-governmental organizations.
For information about how we can support your organization please:
Visit our website: www.flyingdoctorsnigeria.com or email us at: sales@flyingdoctorsnigeria.com, management@flyingdoctorsnigeria.com, doctors@flyingdoctorsnigeria.com
Call us on: 0700 FLYINGDRS/ 0700 3594 64377
