Obi Peter Gregory

Health section

We will prioritize scaling up Nigeria’s Human Capital Index (HCI), through significant and sustainable funding for the health, education, sports, and social welfare sectors, with the imperative of improving the remuneration and conditions of service for our teachers, health workers, and administrators.

We will introduce a mandatory “No Child left Behind” educational policy, mindful that Nigeria’s inadequate investment in the social sectors – health, education, and housing - has resulted in the current dismal social and demographic trends reflected in low life expectancy, teenage pregnancies, high maternal mortality rate, large number of out-of- school children, huge unmet housing needs, as well as high youth unemployment.

We will provide health insurance cover to 133 million poorest Nigerians including pregnant women, children, the aged and the disabled. This shall be without discrimination by socio-economic status in line with constitutional provisions as captured in Chapter 2 Section 17 (3)(d) of our constitution.

The NHIS shall be strengthened in an efficient manner to stimulate private sector-driven health provision driven by accessibility and affordability to cover informal sector workers, the weak and the vulnerable.

We will strive to honour Nigeria’s commitment pursuant to the 2001 African Union Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other related Infectious Diseases, which set the target of allocating at least 15 percent of annual budgets to the improvement of the health sector in African countries.

We will put to an end the financial resources-depleting practice of medical tourism, by supporting national teaching hospitals to specialize in niche areas of medicine, thus enjoying expeditious faculty and facilities enhancement and the attendant comparative advantage. We will implement the National Health Act of 2014 to the letter, and enforce the provision of its Section 46. This will be followed with further actions to improve the quality and service delivery of our health care system as follows: a. Strengthening the leadership, coordination and integration of the health system, while simultaneously improving its regulation, standardisation and quality of service; b. Comprehensive mapping of Nigeria’s healthcare system occupational categories to generate relevant data on human capacity and resources for healthcare training, with a view to reversing brain drain and stopping medical tourism while tapping into our huge Diaspora capacity in healthcare. c. Effective overhaul and restructuring of training for all cadre of healthcare system providers. d. Stepwise scaling up of the healthcare system budget in line with Abuja Declaration, while devolving PHC Funding directly to a revamped National Primary Healthcare Agency. e. Increase NHIS uptake, with a robust healthcare insurance scheme at the basic healthcare level with a goal to provide cover for the 133 million poorest Nigerians including pregnant women, children, elderly and people living with disabilities. f. Generate innovative healthcare financing by encouraging public private healthcare sector initiatives, implementing special taxes and duty waivers. This will include special incentives to encourage the domestic production of pharmaceuticals, drugs, vaccines and medical consumables. The incentives shall also be targeted at boosting research and development in the healthcare system, together with their commercialisation within a process that will be carefully audited, monitored, and evaluated.

We will encourage the establishment of integrated health training institutions and provide the necessary incentives for active private sector participation.

Our human capital development strategy will ensure that all Nigerians are equipped with skills and talents to fend for themselves. These interventions will focus on expanding access to quality health and nutrition, education, and labour force participation of every Nigerian and especially, youths, women, and people living with disability.

Questions to ask Obi Peter Gregory

1. What is the estimated annual cost of providing health insurance cover to 133 million poorest Nigerians, and what specific budget lines or revenue sources will fund it without displacing other health priorities?
2. How will you identify and verify the 133 million ‘poorest’ beneficiaries across states and the informal sector to ensure they are enrolled without exclusion or duplication?
3. What is the timeline and key milestones for achieving the stated coverage of 133 million people under the NHIS, from pilot to nationwide scale-up?
4. You propose devolving Primary Health Care funding directly to a “revamped National Primary Healthcare Agency.” What changes constitute the ‘revamp,’ and will new legislation be required?
5. By when do you intend to reach the Abuja Declaration target of allocating at least 15% of the national budget to health, and will this be phased annually with set percentage targets?
6. What are the projected fiscal impacts of the proposed special taxes and duty waivers for healthcare financing, and what net additional revenue do you expect after accounting for the waivers?
7. What measurable targets will you set for reductions in medical tourism (for example, percentage decrease in overseas medical spending) and how will you track and publish those metrics annually?
8. How will you increase NHIS uptake among informal sector workers and the vulnerable? Will contributions be subsidized, fully funded, or cross-subsidized, and what enrollment channels will be used?