Stakeholders in the health sector have advocated for the establishment of a health development bank of Nigeria.Information Guide Nigeria
According to them, this will help them to assist in solving financial challenges in the health sector.
VANGUARD reports that the stakeholders comprise seven state commissioners of health and the states Executive Secretaries of Primary Healthcare Development Agencies, PHDAs, and FCT.
The stakeholders made this call in Abuja at the stakeholders planning and review meeting of health system strengthening and access to right of health in Nigeria, organized by Centre for Social Justice, CSJs, with the support of the United States Agency for International Development, USAID.
The states involved in the meeting were Ekiti, Imo, Nasarawa, Rivers, Bauchi, Adamawa, Sokoto and FCT, as well as the states’ health insurance agencies, Federal Ministry of Health, and Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, among others.NYSC Portal
Mr. Eze Onyekwere, Lead Director, CSJs stated that the specialized bank was needed to help finance most of the capital projects usually associated with the health sector.
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He further said: “If you have to buy all the capital intensive things and pay commercial bank interest rates, you will have to deny ordinary Nigeria from getting access to basic healthcare.
“We are asking for a specialized health bank that will be funding healthcare like the intervention done for the Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and others, so it will be financing health.
“This bank will be financing health equipment and other healthcare financing at single digit rate, as well as meet many other conditions.
“This bank will make health services affordable to the ordinary Nigerians, and not collapse the health sector because the money will be revolving, the health bank will give you the loan and you pay back with the little interest on top.
“The little interest will be made available for the next person who might wish to get such a loan, it will make more healthcare available.
“Whatever money the government brings into the health sector, along with the money from international development institutions will be on ground for a long period of time.
“This is the idea behind the health development bank, it is a special bank beyond budgetary allocation, beyond health insurance fund, and it will tackle or focus on the strategic needs of the health sector,” Onyekwere said.
He also said they were out to sought for improve healthcare and to make sure that their demands and objectives are one, as well as jointly plan to realize their goals.JAMB Result
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