Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, has called for “a strategic healthcare service reorientation” in the nation’s health sector in order to “achieve the goal of Universal Health Care in Nigeria as encapsulated in the provisions of the National Health Act 2014.”

In a keynote address he delivered at the 10^th Annual All Fellows Congress and Scientific Conference of the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria, Dr Okowa asserted that “an important step in this reorientation process will be a robust Health Insurance Scheme that gives access to affordable and quality health services backed by an effective legislation.”

Speaking on the topic, National Health Act: Translating the Law into Quality and Accessible Healthcare, the Governor called for the full implementation of the Universal Health Care system in the country because “it progressively saves lives, increases economic growth and ensures prosperity for all citizens.”

The Universal Health Care, which is health coverage for all citizens of a nation, provides healthcare and financial protection for all citizens by removing the incidence of paying for health services from out-of-pocket at point of service. It could be Government funded (tax paid) national systems or health insurance systems (funded by governments, citizens, or some mixture).

While declaring that “the right to health” supersedes all other rights, Dr Okowa stressed that “providing affordable quality and accessible healthcare should be a foremost cardinal policy and programme of any government because nation building efforts or national developmental aspirations cannot succeed or be sustained unless adequate attention is paid to the population’s health status.”

He argued that the National Health Act remains Nigeria’s best option at achieving quality and accessible health care for its citizens adding. According to him, “translating and implementing the provisions of the Act to achieve quality and accessible healthcare for all citizens of Nigeria will require the various segments of the health delivery system working in synergy.

“The National Health Act 2014 provides, for the first time, an all-encompassing legal framework for delivery of affordable and quality healthcare in Nigeria. In synergy with an efficient Health Financing System, the ensured quality health service becomes affordable and accessible with the citizens of the nation becoming the ultimate beneficiaries.

“What I feel we need now is a clear national strategy that defines the comprehensive vision of a healthcare system that creates value for both the patient and the healthcare provider and the processes required to achieve it. The central focus of a healthcare delivery process should be centered on continuously increasing value for the patient with value defined as “Health Outcomes Achieved per Naira Spent”.

Dr Okowa challenged the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria to play an active role in the implementation of the provisions of the National Health Act. “The College,” he advised, “should utilise this opportune moment of a new government to re-assert itself in health policy development in Nigeria. The first step is for the College to encourage all its members to make themselves very conversant with the Act and all its provisions for strategic engagement.”

The Governor said that his administration has made the attainment of the Universal Health Care and provision of quality and accessible healthcare service in the state a cardinal programme as encapsulated in the government’s S.M.A.R.T agenda. Towards this end, he disclosed that an Executive Bill on Delta State Contributory Health Commission has been forwarded to the Delta State House of Assembly with effort to get it passed into law in the course of the year.

He predicted that when passed into law, the bill will “significantly increase the demand for health services,” in the state and solicited the partnership of the College in the attainment of this goal. “A healthy and prosperous Delta State is what we desire and I earnestly look forward to partnering with the College and other stakeholders to translate this vision to reality,” he concluded.