The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the country’s faltering economy is being further harmed by persistently low health indices, just in time for the December 12 commemoration of International Universal Health Coverage Day.
According to their findings, the rising expenses of healthcare are pushing an estimated 100 million people into poverty each year around the world.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2019, the share of healthcare costs paid for by individuals in Nigeria was 70.5% of the country’s Current Health Expenditure (CHE). Meanwhile, the government spent only 0.6% of GDP on healthcare and only $14.6 per person. This was significantly lower than the WHO’s recommended $86 per person for universal health coverage (UHC).
WHO presented these statistics at the start of a three-day conference on “Universal Health Coverage (UHC)” held in Akwanga, Nasarawa State, and hosted by the Association of Nigerian Health Journalists (ANHEJ) in partnership with WHO.
The World Health Organization’s Field Presence Cluster Lead, Ahmed Khedr, speaking on behalf of WHO Country Representative, Walter Mulombo, said that access to quality healthcare is one of the fundamental human rights of citizens. The conference was titled “How Can Nigeria Get it Right – the Role of the Media.”
He defined universal health coverage as “the condition in which all people are able to obtain the promotive, preventative, curative, and rehabilitative health treatments they require without unreasonable out-of-pocket costs.”
“Indeed, no one should get sick, be denied healthcare, or die just because they are poor or because the services they need are too far away from where they live.
Despite this progress, he stated, “more than half of the world’s population lacks access to essential health services, and almost 100 million people are pushed into extreme poverty every year because of the costs of paying for care out of their pocket.”
Health care in Nigeria, according to Molombo, is primarily funded by individual households, who pay for it out of their resources.
“With out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure at 70.5 per cent of the Current Health Expenditure (CHE) in 2019, general government health expenditure as a percentage of the GDP was 0.6 per cent, while government expenditure per capita was $14.6 compared with WHO’s $86 benchmark for universal health coverage (UHC),” he said.
According to the WHO Country Representative, Nigeria is home to 50% of Africa’s neglected tropical illnesses and has the highest rates of tuberculosis and paediatric HIV.
He also noted that while the overall malaria prevalence has decreased (from 42% to 23%), the country is still responsible for 27% of global cases and 24% of global deaths.
Mulombo estimates that in Nigeria, 29% of deaths are caused by NCDs, with 22% being caused by early mortality from the four primary NCDs (Hypertension, Diabetes, Cancers, and Malnutrition).
The negative externalities cause substantial costs to the Nigerian economy, according to Mulombo: “While the poorest households feel the heaviest impact of these inefficiencies and poor health outcomes as they have limited access to essential health services.”
However, the WHO representative stated that there is no universal route to UHC and that each country must determine its path based on its social, political, and economic conditions.
According to Mallam Hassan Zaggi, president of the Association of Nigerian Healthcare Executives and Journalists (ANHEJ), enrolling in health insurance programmes will allow individuals, communities, and associations to access healthcare services without having to pay for them out of pocket.
He explained that the goal of the yearly conference was to strengthen the skills of reporters who specialise in covering health-related topics.