Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye and Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, launched the Patients’ Bill of Rights (PBoR) to enhance healthcare service delivery in the country.
This is even as he has called for the full implementation of the document, assuring that the Federal Government would continue to place the welfare of the citizens above any other thing.
The launched organised by the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), was attended by critical stakeholders in the country’s health sector including the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), at the State House Conference Center, Abuja.
PBoR, is an aggregation of patients’ rights that exist in other instruments including the 1999 Constitution, Consumer Protection Act, Child Rights Act, Freedom of Information Act, National Health Act and other sundry regulations.
PBoR was developed by the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) other stakeholders including the Federal Ministry of Health for the protection of Consumers.
Osinbajo said, “Putting the welfare of the citizens above everything, this is what genuine government is all about. We will continue to do this.”
Some of the rights contained in the document are: “Right to be treated with respect, regardless of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, allegations of crime, disability or economic circumstances.
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“Right to relevant information in a language and manner the patient understands including diagnosis, treatment, over procedures and possible outcomes.”
It also talked about right to privacy and confidentiality of medical records.
According to Osinbajo, Nigeria’s quest to attain universal health coverage goes beyond funding, calling on stakeholders to join hands with government to deliver quality healthcare to the people.
“Indeed, healthcare is not merely about what we, as government, put into it in terms of funding, equipment and so on, it is also about what the patient perceives that he or she is getting out of it. I would in fact argue that the latter matters more than the former.”
He said government has demonstrated its commitment to universal health coverage by allocating, for the first time in Nigeria, 1 per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund towards the funding of key health initiatives, in compliance with the National Health Act in the 2018 Budget.
According to Osinbajo, the Patients’ Bill of Rights would complement government’s policy and funding interventions.
“It will ensure that the increasing funding that is coming into healthcare in Nigeria translates into a direct improvement in the quality of the final output at what one might call the ‘last mile’ phase of healthcare delivery, the very personal arena of interaction between health personnel and the beneficiaries of the healthcare,” he said.
The Vice President said that there was need to preserve human dignity even as a patient receives quality health-care.
“While of course the ultimate goal is to ensure the patient stays alive and in good health, it is just as important that the journey to the realisation of that final goal is underpinned by the full preservation of human dignity. Indeed, the foundational ethos of the medical profession, embodied by the service charter that is the Hippocratic Oath, or its modern iteration, the Declaration of Geneva, fully recognises the pre-eminence of patient comfort and dignity.
“I would go on to argue that this deference to the supremacy of human dignity is the responsibility not only of medical personnel, but of everyone in the healthcare value chain: government, regulators, insurer, administrator, family and/or primary caregiver, and even the final consumer.”
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Osinbajo described the Patients’ Bill of Rights as a remarkable effort at consensus and common purpose, in the face of the many challenges of healthcare in Nigeria.
“It cuts out noise and distractions, and focuses on what is truly most important: putting people first. It serves as a code of accountability, constantly reminding us of the primary purpose of the healthcare system, and of the obligations of every player and stakeholder in that system. It helps clarify consumers’ expectations of providers, and providers’ responsibilities to consumers.”
While commending all those who worked out the Patients’ Bill of Rights, he called for compliance with the bill.
“Our aim must be to develop a standard worthy of emulation, by ensuring strict compliance with and enforcement of the Patients’ Bill of Rights.
“We must hold ourselves, professionals and patients accountable to the rights this document enunciates, and when we see others who should, but do not, we must insist that they do.
“It is my fervent hope that this synergy between policy, professionals, regulators, and other vital components such as insurers, and which has produced this Patients’ Bill of Rights, will translate into new standards of quality, equity and dignity in the patient experience in Nigeria. The pre-eminent human right is the right to life.
“But the right to life is a hollow platitude where life itself is without respect for the dignity of the individual. The Patients Bill of Right is the bridge of dignity that links the right to life and minimum standards of healthcare that all of us deserve just by being human beings.
“In every step we take to improve the way our people are treated, we are individually and collectively ennobled. Respect for the dignity of one patient dignifies us all.”
Also speaking, Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, advised health-care providers to “stop playing god.”
“The right of the patient must be protected while at the same time the right of the providers must be guaranteed.”
He said the expectation of government was that the PBoR would further help in the resolve to achieve Universal Health Coverage through strengthened health-care delivery system, building synergy between the service provider and the patient, improving patient’s understanding of health procedures and technologies and improvement of patient’s safety and quality of care.
Adewole also spoke on monitoring of standards of practice both in the private and public sector, ensuring that the need of the vulnerable and marginalised groups are met and that they are treated equitably as well as the need to build trust and confidence between health care providers and patients.
In his opening remarks, Director General of CPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera said the “PBoR is our boldest step yet in soft infrastructure in health care.”
He said it was the vital vehicle upon which, even physical infrastructure must ride to truly deliver service.
Irukera quoting a 2016 report, said, “A 2016 study by PwC revealed that 90 percent of respondents associate healthcare in Nigeria with low quality, while 80 percent and over 70 percent respectively associate it with words like ‘rude’ and ‘fear’.
Conversely less than 20 percent felt that the health care provided in nigeria gave va,he for money, and less than 10 percent felt that it was transparent.
“The public dissatisfaction with the system does not end with providers, as only six percent of the respondents felt confident that if things were to go wrong with their care, they would be protected by the authorities.
According to the report, “the lack of patients protection within the system is perhaps the most significant factor affecting the level of trust in Nigerian healthcare… stories abound of patients who had undesired healthcare outcomes or had concerns about the quality of care received in hospitals, but few cases of successful medical malpractice investigations/action have been record d in the last five years.”