… Calls for policy change
THE Guild of Medical Doctors, GMD, weekend warned that the country’s healthcare sector is facing a multitude of crises, stating that the system was on the verge of collapse if urgent action is not taken.
The Medical Directors in Private practice also posited that the Government has no business in the implementation and running of hospitals, whether tertiary or secondary, insisting that they should let people who are adequately knowledgeable run these hospitals the way they should run.
The medical doctors who also proposed a series of solutions to address the issues plaguing the country’s health sector advocated a merger of private hospitals to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Briefing journalists on the state of health care at the end of its Annual General Meeting in Lagos, the National President of GMD, Dr Kuti Raymond who painted a grim picture of the sector explained that the challenges plaguing the healthcare system are numerous and interconnected pushing about 8 hospitals to close down in Maiduguri.
He explained that the cost of running a hospital in Nigeria is exorbitant. The price of medications, consumables, and medical equipment has skyrocketed, putting a massive strain on hospitals’ budgets.
The cost of power generation is another significant burden, with hospitals forced to be part of Band A.
He said these financial pressures are creating a ripple effect throughout the system. Doctors, facing stagnant wages and a stressful work environment due to understaffing, are experiencing burnout and leaving the country for greener pastures. This exodus further strains the remaining healthcare workers.
He said an average Nigerian is finding it difficult to feed, talk less on how to treat himself or herself.
Making matters worse, the doctors lamented the low health insurance penetration in the country. “With less than 10% of Nigerians covered by health insurance, many are unable to afford quality healthcare. Furthermore, the tariffs paid by government health insurance programmes and HMOs are insufficient to cover the actual cost of care.”
He said the merger of private hospitals would improve efficiency and reduce costs. Additionally, they urge the government to implement friendlier policies, including subsidies for power and medical equipment, and a reduction in excessive taxes on hospitals.
On why the government should be hands-off running hospitals, the National Publicity Officer, Dr Ngozi Onyia argued that government running a hospital does not make it cheap, adding that “what’s the point of being able to access care in a hospital where no care is available, but you can access it because it’s cheap enough.
“We need to correct the entire industry, and eventually, in most countries that are doing well, we will find out that all healthcare is privately managed, even if it is publicly owned, but privately managed.”
Speaking, Chairman, Lagos State Chapter, Dr Omoniyi Fagberu stressed the importance of increasing health insurance coverage, stating that a robust insurance system would provide much-needed financial security to patients and hospitals alike.
Fagberu called for the establishment of a dedicated healthcare bank to provide access to loans for struggling hospitals.
He called on the government to create friendly policies in the health sector that would promote services and help private hospital owners break even, lamenting that current government policies were unfriendly and hostile to the sector.
“The industry should have its bank. We are not asking for grants. No, we don’t want free money. We don’t want handouts. We just want to be moved from hostile policies to friendly policies that will promote the running of private practice in this country, which will reflect on how Nigerians are being treated.”
On his part, the Secretary of GMD, Dr Samuel Adebayo further called on the Federal government to initiate healthcare subsidy in the power sector for private hospitals. “If your hospital is identified as a hospital, instead of, maybe you are supposed to pay N20 million, you can be given a 40% discount. “Let government wipe away some of these unnecessary, excessive taxations from local government and state government.”
“We bought equipment for 25 million or something, and within two months after importation, this same equipment went to N36 million. The people sending it could not send it, because of the instability in the economic system that is discouraging foreign partners from collaborating and cooperating with the healthcare system. But the Nigerian government should look into all those policies so that the healthcare system can survive.”
Discover more from starmich blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
