President Buhari will in the next few days sign the amended National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS (Repeal and Re-enactment) bill into law, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe has said.
He stated this Friday during the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) summit organized by the UHC 2023 forum, Chatham House and other partners.
He said “The president is willing to sign it into law now. The House of Representatives will pass it next week. It will then be transmitted to President Buhari for assent in the next few days. The president is committed to getting the NHIS bill passed”, he said.
He said that for the first time, the bill will make health insurance mandatory for all Nigerians, and fast-track the achievement of universal health coverage in the country.
Oloriegbe said that while it is the responsibility of all tiers of government to fund the health sector, as stipulated in the National Health Act, he lamented that the subnational ( state and local governments) level are not committing sufficiently to health.
He said this includes neglecting funding of primary healthcare centres, and relying on the federal government to fund it.
Chairman of the occasion, Chief Moji Makanjuola said the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the country’s suboptimal health security system.
“The slow progress on UHC and gaps in the health security system are attributable to sub-optimal public financing for health and weak accountability arrangements for public financial management at all tiers of government. Sub-optimal public investment in health is a manifestation of a low level of attention and priority accorded to the health sector by the political class in the country”, she said.
Prof Mohammed Nasir Sambo , Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) said the implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) was still bedeviled with challenges.
He called for prompt release of BHCPF to ensure sustainability, increase in awareness about BHCPF and allocation of one per cent telecom tax to health among others.
