Angela Onwuzoo
Health providers and other stakeholders in the health sector have called for stronger resource mobilisation to boost healthcare financing in Nigeria.
The healthcare providers under the aegis of the Healthcare Providers Association of Nigeria noted that the country must prioritise health insurance to end out-of-pocket spending on healthcare among Nigerians to achieve universal health coverage.
Healthcare financing refers to the mobilisation of funds for healthcare and mechanisms for paying for healthcare services.
Experts blame the challenge of healthcare financing in Nigeria on the low budgetary allocation to the health sector.
Nigeria’s current budgetary allocation to health is still a far cry from the April 2001 Abuja Declaration on health, which mandates African Union Countries to commit at least 15 per cent of their national budget to healthcare.
Speaking at the 2025 Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting of HCPAN, Lagos State chapter, held at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Conference Centre, Ikeja, with the theme of the conference “Unlocking the Value Chain in the Healthcare Sector through Veritable Health Financing Options”, the health professionals declared that out-of-pocket healthcare payments have become obsolete.
Delivering the keynote address, the Chief Executive Officer of the Business School of the Netherlands, Prof Lere Baale, suggested that Nigeria’s healthcare system must urgently evolve beyond dependence on out-of-pocket payments, which currently account for over 70 per cent of total health expenditure.
Citing the burden of poverty in Nigeria, the renowned management expert and President of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy, noted that such a financing model exposes families to catastrophic health costs and perpetuates inequity in access to quality care.
The pharmacist stated, “Health should be treated as an investment, not a cost,” Baale declared. “When we unlock the healthcare value chain through proper financing, we stimulate jobs, innovation, and national productivity.”
Baale urged both federal and state governments to treat healthcare as an economic growth driver rather than a social burden.
The don emphasised the importance of sustainable financing, data-driven planning, and private-sector partnerships.
In his remarks, the Special Guest of Honour and Chairman of the Governing Council of the National Health Insurance Authority, Senator Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, disclosed that the Authority was expanding insurance coverage nationwide through policy reforms.
Represented by the Acting Zonal Director, NHIA Lagos Zone, Aisha Abubakar Haruna, the chairman said, “The NHIA Council is committed to ensuring that every Nigerian is covered under one form of health insurance or another.”
He assured that NHIA had intensified efforts to improve accreditation systems, address payment delays, and promote equity in enrollee distribution.
The Chief Host and National President of HCPAN, Dr Austine Aipoh, reaffirmed the association’s long-standing advocacy for universal health coverage and compulsory health insurance in Nigeria.
Aipoh noted that achieving UHC must begin with strengthening health insurance as a central pillar of healthcare delivery.
“If you want to achieve universal health coverage in Nigeria, you have to start with health insurance.
“Out-of-pocket payments have become obsolete because a lot of Nigerians simply cannot afford to pay for their health. The way forward is to ensure that every Nigerian is covered”, he said.
Also speaking, National Public Relations Officer of HCPAN, Dr Chijioke Mbelu, described the persistent high level of out-of-pocket spending as “a dangerous indicator of system inefficiency,”
He expressed concerns that many private healthcare facilities were struggling to remain afloat due to delayed remittances and low tariffs.
In her welcome address, the Chairman of HCPAN, Lagos chapter, Biola Paul-Ozieh, commended the Lagos State Government’s proposed Lagos Private Health Plan (LPHP), describing it as a step in the right direction toward inclusivity, while calling for transparent fund disbursement and regular tariff reviews.
The conference featured two sub-theme presentations, which focused on improving quality and collaboration within the health insurance ecosystem.
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