Janet Ogundepo
The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Funso Doherty, has promised free maternal and child healthcare, including drugs, if elected governor in the 2027 governorship election.
He also pledged to increase the combined budgetary allocation to health and education from about 15 per cent to 28 per cent during his first term.
He said the proposed increased funding would reflect a shift in government priorities towards the two critical sectors, while allowing the state to progressively expand access to healthcare and consider health insurance as part of broader reforms.
Doherty made the commitments on Sunday during the Lagos Governorship Debate organised by the Nigeria Debate Consortium, a coalition of media organisations comprising The PUNCH, Channels Television, TVC News, TheCable and Vanguard Newspaper, ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Speaking on healthcare financing, he said the current allocation to health was inadequate, noting that health and education together received about 15 per cent of the state budget.
“We have said substantially more, and we have said over the course of our first term, move that number more towards 28 per cent. By virtue of doing that, you release a lot of resources for these two very critical sectors,” he said.
The NDC candidate further noted that maternal and child healthcare would be fully free under his administration, including the provision of drugs, rather than limiting free services to consultations.
He said patients often visited government hospitals for consultations but were subsequently asked to pay for tests elsewhere and purchase prescribed medicines, leaving those unable to afford the additional costs without proper care.
“We have also said that maternal and child care for us would be free, not nominally, but fully free, inclusive of drugs. Because right now, let me tell you that you go to a hospital, you get seen, but you are asked to go and do some tests somewhere, go and buy some drugs somewhere. People don’t have the means, so they stay away from the facilities,” he said.
Doherty warned that the financial barriers to accessing care contributed to preventable deaths among mothers and babies.
“So it’s about a reordering of priorities to what we consider to be critical sectors, education and healthcare,” he said.
He acknowledged that his proposed healthcare reforms might not all be implemented immediately, but said his administration would begin with fully free maternal and child healthcare before expanding the services.
“We may not be able to do everything from day one, but if we start with totally free healthcare for maternal and child care, then we can expand it as we go along,” he stated.
Doherty also said the state could examine health insurance as a means of expanding access to care, but stressed that government funding would remain necessary to support poor residents.
He cautioned against relying on health insurance schemes without direct government financing for people who could not afford healthcare.
“But if you keep talking about health insurance, right, like the Ilera Eko, without the government dipping its hands into its pocket to fund care for poor people, you’re going to have a problem,” he said.
He added that the inability of many residents to afford services at public hospitals had contributed to their preference for traditional healthcare providers.
“And that’s the problem that we have today, where people would rather go to traditional providers than go to government hospitals,” he said.
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