The Honourable Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, during his first official visit to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) on Friday, encouraged all Public Hospitals across the country to stop the practice of asking for money from patients before attending to emergencies
Adewole further blamed the poor performance of public hospitals and Primary Health Centre's on underfunding.
“The poverty indicator shows that 60 to 70 percent of Nigerians are poor. This means about 100 million people are poor in Nigeria. So, we will provide basic care through the PHC system for Nigerians,” the Minister stated.
Our view: While there is a 5% provision for emergency care as part of the 1% Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) in the 2014 National Health Act, it is important that the Act is made fully operational and funds provided accordingly before Public hospitals can be held accountable.