The Kaduna State Government says it is working to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure on health services by 50 per cent, with a view to achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Dr Joseph Sunday, Director, Health Planning, Research and Statistics in the state Ministry of Health, stated this at a two-day meeting on healthcare financing in Abuja on Saturday.
Sunday said out-of-pocket constitutes 84 per cent of the total expenditure on health, stressing the need for sustainable and innovative healthcare financing in the state.
He added that the Health Financing Policy and Strategy, developed with support from Save the Children International, was designed to expand funding sources for the health sector in the state.
“Part of the objective, therefore, is to increase government expenditure on health by five per cent and improve the coverage of residents on health risk protection mechanisms by 50 per cent.
“The policy also hopes to reduce the 84 per cent out-of-pocket expenditure on health by 50 per cent and improve health expenditure on primary healthcare by 20 per cent.
“It is also designed to improve the coverage of vulnerable populations by 20 per cent under the health insurance scheme of the Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority (KADCHMA).
“This will strengthen healthcare financing systems to ensure accountability, transparency, and sustainability at the state and local government levels,” he said.
He described healthcare financing as the generation, allocation, and use of financial resources in the health sector, adding that it was recognised generally as critical to achieving UHC.
He stressed the need to recognise current finances available for health and ways to raise more funds.
He added that such funds should be efficiently and equitably allocated to pay for health services with a view to reducing out-of-pocket expenditure that impoverished most households.
He said that the State Health Financing Policy trust and guiding framework was hinged on the framework of the global policy direction on UHC and healthy lives for all by 2030.
“It provides a comprehensive framework for harnessing resources towards attainment of UHC for residents of Kaduna State.
“The strategy is aimed at strengthening the health system, particularly the PHC sub-system, to enable the delivery of quality, effective, efficient, equitable and comprehensive health care services to her residents,” he said.
The director called for the enrolment of more informal sector, particularly the vulnerable groups, in the state health insurance scheme to increase access to health care services.
He also urged the council’s chairmen to encourage pregnant women to attend at least four antenatal care sessions during pregnancies, and support facility delivery under the supervision of a skilled birth attendant.
He also called on the chairmen to support health facilities with ready-to-use therapeutic food for the treatment of children with severe acute malnutrition.
“We are also calling on the chairmen to ensure availability of HIV test kits and services and protect mothers and children against malaria,” he said.
Mr Yusuf Goje of the Kaduna Local Government Accountability Mechanism, called on the LG chairmen to set aside a percentage of their annual budget for community nominated projects and interventions.
Goje called on them to take ownership of the Community Development Charter (CDC) process by prioritising spending on citizens nominated projects and community health needs.
“Recognising that communities have diverse and peculiar needs as well as empowering them to influence budget decisions, enhances government effectiveness at reducing poverty and out of pocket expenditure on health services.
“When government empowers communities to participate in the formulation and implementation of annual budgets, it delivers a win win situation for the government and the residents and ensures better development outcomes,” he said.
The Commissioner for Local Government, Mr Sadiq Maman-Lagos, commended KADCHMA for enlisting the support of the local government chairmen to improve funding of the health insurance scheme.
Maman-Lagos pledged to work with all the chairmen to ensure that the local councils contributed their quota towards the success of the scheme.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was organised by KADCHMA, with support from Save the Children International, Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn and Lifiya programme.
