By Joyce Remi- Babayeju
As the world marks the 2021 Global Universal Health Coverage, UHC, Day today, the World Health Organization WHO, has called on the Nigerian Government and regional governments to up scale investment in their health systems in order to meet up with the health needs where no one is left behind.
WHO Representative in Nigeria Dr. Walter Mulombo at a ministerial press conference to mark the 2021 UHC with the theme, ” Leave no one behind, invest in health Systems for All” made the call.
Molumbo said,” The theme of this year’s celebration, indeed reminds us of the need for countries to invest more in health systems towards achieving UHC in order to leave no one behind. This takes into cognizance evidence-based decisions and practical steps in population coverage on essential health services, and financial protection from poverty due to illness and access to healthcare.”
According to him this call is more imperative considering the ongoing global struggle to stem the tides of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
He said, “Here in our country Nigeria, we now face not only the challenges of communicable diseases with high burdens of HIV, Tuberculosis, Malaria, and Respiratory Tract Infections but have increasing cases of non-communicable diseases including Hypertension, Diabetes, and Cancers”, including frequent disease outbreaks such as Cholera,
Lassa Fever, Yellow Fever, Meningitis, etc, and protracted humanitarian crisis in security compromised parts of the country.
Molumbo recalled that in August 2017, the WHO Region for Africa at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, adopted an Action Framework to ensure achievement of UHC and the SDGs through the Health Systems.
WHO used the occasion to call for deliberate integrated actions across the six (6) building blocks of governance; health workforce; financing; infrastructure, medicines, products, and supplies; and information systems at the national and subnational levels.
In the spirit of the celebration, Molumbo called on the Nigerian Government to increase investment in the health sector so as to relieve households of the heavy burden of out-of-pocket expenditure on health which is still above 70%, adding that the occasion also calls stock taking of the dividends of health and healthcare provided to the people by articulating the annual state of the health report in line with the National Health Act 2014.
This will not only showcase the achievements and progress made so far but will be useful in laying bare key challenges and areas where improvement would be needed, he explained.
WHO promised it’s continued support to provide evidence-based technical support and expertise to the Nigerian Government and it’s people to achieve the highest health outcomes they desire.
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