The Guild of
Medical Directors has expressed dissatisfaction with the current situation of
the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and called for a speedy resolution
of
the face off between it and the Federal Ministry of Health.
The guild
called on government to decisively and speedily intervene to rectify all
anomalies hindering the smooth functioning of the scheme in the country.
In a
communiqué issued after its National Executive Council meeting in Abuja,
President of the guild, Prof. Femi Dokun-Babalola, noted that the guild has no
objection to the current structure of the scheme involving the NHIS, the Health
Management Organisations (HMOs), the service providers (hospitals) and the
enrollees. He added that there is however a need to fine-tune the relationship
between these organisations in such a way that high quality service is
delivered to the enrollees.
He noted
that the primary focus of the scheme is to service the health needs of the
enrollees and to improve the health indices of the country. In spite of the
challenges engendered by this face off, hospitals affiliated with the Guild
continue to render uninterrupted service to the enrollees, even where payments
have been unduly withheld.
Dokun-Babalola
observed that the guild is worried about the abysmally low coverage of the
scheme in the country stressing that other African countries such as Ghana and
Kenya have embraced a similar scheme and have enrolled up to 69 per cent of
their populations while Nigeria has enrolled less than two per cent of its
population.
He called
for the introduction of mandatory enrolment by all eligible families in the
country.
According to
him, primary health care should be left to the primary health care centers and
private hospitals, and taken away from the secondary (General hospitals) and
tertiary care providers (Teaching hospitals, specialist hospitals and Federal
Medical Centers) who are at the moment overwhelmed with cases that can easily
be taken care of at the primary care levels and are unable to concentrate on
their core assignments and to handle cases on referrals that are beyond the
scope of primary health care centers.
“ A patient
need not travel more than 5km from his home in order to access primary care.
The enrollees need to be rightly guided as to their choice of primary care
center, which should include all accredited health care institutions (public
and private) within their catchment areas. There is a need to accredit more
private institutions in anticipation of the increased load of enrollees.’’
The
enrollees according to him need to be rightly guided as to their choice of
primary care center which should include all accredited health care
institutions (public and private) within their catchment areas. There is a need
to accredit more private institutions in anticipation of the increased load of
enrollees.
Dokun-Babalola
who advocated for the implementation of the National Health Act and its
domestication at the state level assured that the Guild of Medical Directors is
ready to play its part in the delivery of quality health care to all Nigerians.
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