The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire has said that 50% of the country’s population receives healthcare from the private sector.
He said this while speaking at the Healthcare Federation of Nigeria’s 2023 Annual Conference General Meeting. He explained that the government was devoted to working with them to achieve their mandate.
“The private healthcare sector in Nigeria, though largely based on urban centres, is robust and growing steadily, serving 50% of the population. The government is committed to working with them to achieve its mandate.
“The President discussed the subject of ease of doing business in the healthcare sector, and the government will encourage entrepreneurs as much as possible with access to technology and finance because local manufacturing is a solution to certain health issues that endanger National Health Security.”
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He added that Nigeria should be self-sufficient in producing critical commodities, medicines, PPEs and supplies to take care of the population.
“The so-called Covid-19 vaccine nationalism taught us that we must not be wholly dependent on others for supplies but be to a degree self-sufficient in producing critical commodities, medicines, PPEs, and supplies to take care of our population. Partnerships must be built to create levers to drive public health security and universal health coverage,” Ehanire said.
Executive Governor, Sokoto State and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, said, “I would once again like to reiterate the importance of the partnership with the private sector and would like to assure you that the NGF would continue to provide the necessary enabling environment for the private sector to operate optimally and for our partnership to thrive.”
Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Building the Healthcare of Our Future,” the HFN President, Dr Pamela Ajayi, stated, “Rather than focusing on challenges, we are focusing on the solutions. So, we are having conversations around ‘Fiscal Framework for Promotion of Healthcare Sector Investment in Nigeria’, and ‘Healthcare Investment and Financing’. We are also talking about the new National Health Insurance Authority Act.”
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