President Buhari in a bit of
The president urged the relevant stakeholders to proffer solutions in order to close the gap towards adequately funding the healthcare sector in the nation.
President Buhari made this address at the inauguration of SEC 41 at the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) in Plateau state.
He was represented by the Plateau state governor, Simon
His statement reads:
“I am pleased to be at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru on the occasion of the inauguration of the Senior Executive Course 41, 2019 of the National Institute. When in 2018, I approved the theme of your study, Funding Universal Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria, the decision was borne out of the sincere desire of my administration to tackle the challenges of health sector funding in Nigeria.
“The essence of this programme is to ensure that quality basic healthcare services are delivered to the majority of Nigerians across the country irrespective of their locations. Early in 2018,Government provided N55.1billion, which is the 1 percent Consolidated Revenue Fund to cater for the Basic Healthcare Fund, provided for in the National Health Act.
“Government has shown strong commitment in the revitalization of the health sector. These efforts notwithstanding, our health sector is still characterized by low response to public health emergencies, inability to combat outbreak of deadly diseases and mass migration of medical personnel out of the country.
“This has resulted in increasing medical tourism by Nigerians in which Nigeria loses over N400billion on annual basis.