From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Less than a decade (nine years) to the end term of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has raised the alarm that Nigeria might miss out in the health-related SDG goals.
The Minister said that unless drastic measures are taken by all stakeholders, the health component of the SDG won’t be met, and that could be disastrous and disappointing.
Speaking at the special session of the National Council on Health (NCH), in Abuja, on Thursday, the Minister solicited the support of Council members who are mostly Commissioners of health in the states and other stakeholders to play their respective roles to support and help the federal government achieve the health-related SDG goals.
The Minister explained that NCH is the highest policy making organ in the health sector, and provides a platform for Council members and stakeholders to consider and chart ways forward on health issues of national importance.
The Minister in his remarks said: “The end term of the SDGs is barely nine years away and targets of the health-related SGDs, in particular SDG 3 are still far off.
“The National Strategic Health Development Plan2 2018-2022, that provided the medium-term health sector roadmap to attain the goals and objectives of the National policy and edge closer to the SDG targets is completing its life cycle.
“We need to take stock and ensure the succeeding plan addresses emerging needs in a post pandemic era. While chances of meeting targets may now seem slim in the face of the challenges of the past year, the good news is that our nation can leverage lessons learnt from the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, nationally and globally, to make bold decisions to build a resilient health system.
“We must reflect critically on how to refocus, re-energise and reprogram the future of health, ensuring lessons from COVID-19 pandemic response are leveraged to develop statutes, strategies and frameworks that deliver continuously improving quality of health to our people while building back better.
“Above all, it ensures no one is left behind as we develop a resilient health system that ranks among the best, seeing to the needs of individuals and groups and withstand challenge.”
Representative of UNICEF Nigeria Office, Dr. Eduardo Celades, in his remarks, said the theme of the meeting, “The Journey to Attaining Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Applying Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic Towards Building A Resilient National Health System, is timely and relevant.
He added: “It reflects a conscious attempt by Nigeria to situate the challenges and opportunities of the pandemic within the broader discourse of accelerating action towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and SDGs in the decade of action.”
He urged the Council members and delegates to reflect on how best to address the chronic obstacles between Nigeria’s great potentials and its aspirations in the health sector.
“Notable among the challenges include a persistent decline in health expenditure as a proportion of GDP from 1.20 per cent in 2004 to only 0.58 per cent in 2018, inadequate financing of PHC services at service delivery points, inadequate human resources for health, among several others,” he said.
He was optimistic that the meeting will proffer superior recommendations to drive tangible, equitable and sustainable results for Nigerians, especially women and children, in line with the SDGs vision of “leaving no one behind”.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO), representative in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, in his remarks said, “having visited up to half of the States in less than two years of my stay in Nigeria, I can attest to the enormous health needs of the people and the effort made so far in meeting these needs.
“Although, COVID-19, like an x-ray exposed the weaknesses in the global economy including health, I rather choose to consider it a unique opportunity for a thorough evaluation of existing resources and mechanisms and build back better towards a more resilient system for the future.”