President Jonathan signs National Health Bill into law

President Goodluck Jonathan has given his assentto theNational Health Bill.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, confirmed this toone of our correspondent on Tuesday.
Itis however worthy of note that the road to getting the presidential assent, which stakeholders said would improve the standard of medicare in the country, was rough.
The bill was tossed around the corridors of theNational Assembly while those that many deemed less beneficial got the presidential nod.
Stakeholders who spoke with our correspondent in Lagos on Tuesday called for a full implementation of the National Health Act.
The experts, who highlighted the benefits of theAct toNigerians, stated that the President would only be paying lip service towards improving the health status of Nigerians, if all its provisions were not properly implementedand enforced.
According to the former National President of theNigerian Medical Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, under theAct, there is a provision for free basic health care services for children under the age of five, pregnant women, the elderly and persons with disabilities in thecountry.
Enabulele said if enforced, the essential provisions in the Act would help Nigeria achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4, 5, and 6 which aim at reducing maternal and infant mortality rates by the year 2015.
The physician noted that though Nigeria had thehighest number of children and pregnant women dying in Africa, the enforcement of the dictates of the act could change the shameful ratings of the country on global health indices.
Morepregnantwomen, headded, would have access to free delivery services while their children are assured of standard paediatric servicesin the nation’s health facilities.
Due to poor funding, many of the 772 primary health care centres in the country offer epileptic services. The ex-NMA boss stated that the National Health Act would change the situation as it provides direct funding for primary health care services from theSovereign Wealth Fund ofthe nation.
He said, “There will be improved funding of health care servicesat the grassroot so that people don’t have to travel far to access medical services. There is a Basic Health Provisions Fund for primary health care centres in the Act and it is to be majorly fundedwith one per cent of the Consolidated Fund of the Federation. This, undoubtedly, will re-energise Nigeria’s Primary health care system.
“The Act will reduce mortality among Nigerians who die because they don’t go to the hospital when they are sick as they cannotafford to pay theirbills.”
At present, over 5,000 Nigerians travel to India, the United Kingdom and the United Statesfor treatment.
Nigeria is losing billion of naira in capital flight to medical tourism by her citizens and her leaders, who travel to foreign hospitals to treatcommon ailments like malaria.
Stakeholders expect that medical tourism, which is plaguing the health sector of the country, will be a thing of the past going by theprovisions in thehealth act.
Enabulele said the trend thrived due to the fact that Nigeria did not have a law that was regulating the health sector.
According to the former NMA boss, if the Act is well implemented, it will be difficult for Nigerians, no matter their status, to access treatmentfor diseases that can be treated in thecountry in foreign hospitals.
“The Act has provisions that tackle the vexatious issue of medical tourism and its current negative impact on Nigeria, as well as the gross abuse of tax payers’ money on accountof the incessantforeign medical trips by political and public office holders in search of foreign medical attention for medical conditions that can effectively be treatedin Nigeria.
“TheNational Health Act provides for stricter regulation of all medical referrals abroad and emphasises greater collaboration between public and private health care facilities in Nigeria.
“Currently, lots of Nigerians, including top political office holders, travel frequently to other countries in search of medical care evenfor conditions that can be satisfactorily managed in Nigeria.
“On the average, over $800million dollars is lost annually by Nigeria on account of foreign medical trips. The National Health Act will substantially reverse the trend of frequent and sometimes unnecessary foreign medical trips, and make Nigeria a destination for medical tourism.” Enabulele stated.
Prior to this Act, the sector, which caters to thehealth and well being ofover 160 million Nigerians, was largely unregulated. This vacuum, many believe, had created an open invitation to quacks to invade the system.
While commending Jonathan for assenting to the bill, the National President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Mr. Olumide Akintayo, called on the President to appoint stakeholders from all cadres of the health profession to ensure the successful implementationof theAct.
Akintayo stated that failure to do so could lead to more professional disputes in the sector.
“It is our hope that this seeming progressive document was not doctored after the harmonised version was passed at the National Assembly to favour some professional groups.
“The process of appointing the drivers of salient aspects of the Health Act should therefore logically follow the conduct of a competitive selection process from a pool of professionals who have competentskills and cognateexperience. We maintain with strong emphasisthat such skills are foundin all the cadres of health profession not just one profession.”