In a bid to help build a robust health care infrastructure, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it has up to now disbursed over N83.9 billion in loans to pharmaceutical companies and healthcare practitioners.
Its Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who revealed this at the weekend in Lagos during the launch of the documentary movie, “Unmasked”, lamented that Nigerians’ out-of-pocket expenditures on healthcare had climbed to 76 percent of total healthcare expenditure. Noting that the development of robust healthcare infrastructure is vital for the advancement of any society,” he clarified that addressing the public health crisis together with the recession in the economy necessitated strong coordination from the monetary and fiscal authorities.” This job will require the collaborative efforts of public and private industry stakeholders,” he added.
On the CBN efforts from the healthcare industry to include the pandemic, Emefiele said:
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“In this regard, we analyzed over N83.9 billion in loans to pharmaceutical companies and healthcare practitioners, which is encouraging 26 pharmaceutical and 56 medical jobs throughout the nation. We were also able to mobilize key stakeholders from the economy through the CACOVID alliance, which led to the supply of over an N25billion in relief materials to affected households, and also the set-up of 39 isolation centers across the country. These measures helped to expand and strengthen the capacity of our health care institutions to react to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One key aspect which we’d have to tackle is enhancing access to healthcare for many Nigerians. A key factor that has got access to health care for Nigerians is that the prevailing cost of health care services.
According to a study by WHO, only 4 percent of Nigerians have access to medical insurance. Besides food, healthcare expenses are a significant part of the normal Nigerian’s individual expenditure. Out-of-pocket expenses on healthcare amount to near 76 percent of total healthcare expenditure. At these levels of health spending, folks particularly those in rural communities may be denied access to healthcare services.
