The World Health Organization (WHO) Mission for Health Financing to Nigeria, led by its Technical Officer, Fahdi Dkhimi, declared Support for National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act2022.
This was made known when a delegate of WHO and NHIA paid a courtesy call to the Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
The Honourable Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, said the gesture was a welcome development. He revealed some of the constraints faced by the scheme to include infrastructural development, human resource and investment patterns.
The visiting team and other relevant stakeholders who interacted with the Minister of Health on the recently signed NHIA Act 2022, discussed among others possible ways to effectively operationalize the NHIA Act for the benefits of Nigerians.
“Most of the investments have gone to the very large visible hospitals which are not utilized at the expense of small primary healthcare centres in the rural areas, I solicit for investment and higher level of care at the sub urban level in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage.”
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Mahmuda Mamman, stated that the Act promulgated few years ago, has recently been signed into Law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The Act provided for National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), to implement schemes for relevant groups including Federal Civil Servant and establishes a vulnerable Group Fund, part of which can be invested by the NHIA.”
The Technical Officer, World Health Organisation, Fahdi Dkhimi, stated that WHO is committed towards supporting the implementation process of the Scheme.
