NHF seeks to integrate cardiovascular disease into BHCPF health insurance | The Guardian Nigeria News

0

Stakeholders called for the need to support the integration of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and Health Insurance Benefits in four states in Nigeria.

The four states are: Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Osun.

Stakeholders at a roundtable organized by the Nigerian Heart Foundation (NHF), in Lagos last week, said the government should ensure mainstreaming of more non-communicable diseases (NCDs), in particular cardiovascular diseases, in the public social health insurance scheme (SSHI). .

A speaker at the event, a public health physician, Dr. Bolaji Adebiyi, said the roadmap to integration is to first identify the beneficiaries of the program.

He said: “The beneficiaries of the program need to be identified and we should also inculcate systematic screening for cardiovascular disease at the primary health care (PHC) and community level.

“PHC and secondary health care (SHC) facilities should be well equipped with good infrastructure, appropriate equipment and adequate human and financial resources to manage CVD. We should also provide a two-way referral system between PHC and CHS facilities.

“There should also be a determination of the provider mechanism of provision to vulnerable people in society and ensure the buy-in of the National Health Council.”

Adebiyi further said that there is a need to identify key stakeholders including people living with non-communicable diseases (PLWNCD) and to have high level advocacy to include cancers and chronic respiratory diseases in the BHCPF.

He also said that high level advocacy should be done to the government at state and national level.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the CrimsonBow Sickle Cell Anemia Initiative, Miss Timi Edwin, said government and other stakeholders should ensure there is testing, treatment and adequate care for PLWNCDs at the community, PHC and CHS levels.

Miss Edwin disclosed that the state of the PHC system in Nigeria is shocking as only around 20% of the 30,000 PHC facilities across Nigeria are fully functional.

She said, “The centers face challenges including understaffing, poor distribution of health workers, poor quality of health services, poor infrastructure and lack of supply of essential drugs.

“To ensure continued sustainability monitoring and evaluation, I urge multiple stakeholders; Government, private sector, NGOs and individuals should embrace PHC facilities and PLWNCDs by providing resources for CVD management. »

NHF Executive Director Dr Kingsley Akinroye said there was a need to increase advocacy on the BHCPF as there is still a wide gap in this area.

He said, “There is a lot to be done in raising awareness because the level of awareness is still very low in the country. We should make significant noise to make sure everyone down to the grassroots level is aware of the BHCPF.

“We implore and encourage the government, private sectors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and high-profile individuals to enroll citizens in the health care scheme as much as possible, either free or at a reduced cost.”

Share.

Comments are closed.