SOFON Decries Alleged Non-implementation of NHIS by State Governments

The Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria (SOFON) has decried what they observed as the nonimplementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) by state governments across the country.

President, Society of Family Physicians of Nigeria, Dr. Akin Moses, who stated this in Calabar during the recent 20th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference, said only five per cent of the health scheme was being implemented across the country.

Moses said it was important for state governors in the country to place high premium on the founding of healthcare services in their respective states.

He stated that the NHIS services can only be offered in a functional health system, hence the need to ensure that the primary and secondary services are functioning.

“The NHIS coverage is said to be less than 5 per cent in Nigeria. Most state governments are not implementing the Health Insurance Scheme. We should not leave this burden to the federal government alone. The state governments have the capacity to make sure that we have three functional general hospitals in each of the senatorial districts across the country.

“We are ready to send our resident doctors to the rural areas to deliver health service and improve the health of our people,” Moses said.

He assured Nigerians that the SOFON would collaborate with the governments at all tiers and the relevant agencies towards curbing the emergence and re-emergence of devastating communicable diseases in the country.

Moses said the theme of the conference ‘Combating the Menace of Infectious Diseases in Low Resources Settings’ was chosen as a deliberate response to the emergence and re-emergence of devastating communicable diseases in the face of the nation’s increasing population.

Moses said in Nigeria, several geo-political zones have experienced displaced persons arising from conflict situations, flood, erosion, communal disputes and others with their health and social life affected.

He added that family physicians need to anchor appropriate responses by collaborating the government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in tapping resources available to mobilise other health professionals for control strategies.

“As a body of physicians, we shall continue to collaborate and partner the various levels of government and relevant agencies in combating the menace of infectious diseases in Nigeria,” Moses said.