MEDIATRACNET
The Federal Government has said it is considering the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to complement the budgetary allocations to the health sector.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed this on Monday in Abuja when he met with Nigerian-born Michael Ugwueke, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Methodist Hospitals, Tennessee, USA.
The VP said at the moment, practically all of the funding for the health care system are from the annual budget.
He said for a country with the size of over 200 million people, it would be extremely difficult to expect that we would fund its health care system purely from the annual budget.
“The National Health Insurance will be one way of giving us a more substantial pool of resources we can use, not only to improve infrastructure, but also improve earnings for personnel,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, Ugwueke said he was in the country partly to explore areas of partnership between the Federal Government and the Methodist Hospital, especially in complementing efforts of the Buhari administration in transforming the health care system in the country.
Ugwueke commended the Buhari administration’s efforts in tackling COVID-19, describing the government’s intervention in containing the pandemic as incredibly successful.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, who was also in the meeting, said the Federal Government would welcome offers of collaboration from the US-based, Nigerian-born medical expert and hospital administrator to improve the country’s health system.
