The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has pledged to support the extension of quality healthcare services across the country.
Dr Ekpe Phillips, the Chairman, FCT NMA, said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NMA) on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the NMA would ensure creative strategies to support the fulfilment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in the country, adding that this will be done in collaboration with stakeholders.
Phillips also underscored the importance NMA attached to diagnosis and treatment of patients.
He stated that patient centred care has been benchmarked as recommended approach in contemporary practice which prioritised and aligned with clinical decisions that focused on patients best interests by healthcare practitioners.
“We recommit the Federal Government towards the attainment of UHC starting from his presidential assent to the legislative amendment of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHlS).
“NHIS was intended to extend health insurance to cover all Nigerians either in formal or informal sector as well as help cascading to sub-national governments,’’ he said.
The NMA chairman advised government to prioritise community health insurance across all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
Phillips listed other key factors in the NHIS as public private partnership for healthcare delivery, improving Nigeria health outcome and indices, reversing outbound medical tourism abroad.
Others are celebrating brain gain and reducing brain drain, enhancing inter-professional and harmonious relationship in health sector.
He said that there was need to interrogate logically some of the recurring challenges bedevilling Nigeria’s healthcare sector in order to proffer innovative workable proposals to address them. (NAN)