At 20, HMCAN asks FG to decentralise healthcare delivery
Healthcare
Health and Managed Care Association of Nigeria (HMCAN) has expressed its commitment to deepening health insurance culture across the federation.
It is the umbrella body of accredited Health Maintenance organisations (HMOs) and licensed operators of the insurance scheme. It was founded about 20 years ago, to promote health insurance and management business.
Speaking on the milestone, HMCAN’s social secretary disclosed, “all activities to mark the anniversary have been rescheduled to a later date to be announced soon.”
Babatunde Ladele, the chairman of the body advised government to “get its priority right and play less politics with health matters since the sector is crucial to the country’s survival.”
Ladele said: “Despite the current situation in the country, many of us have hope and will continue to aspire for a befitting health services even if it would not happen in our lifetime. Some people have invested heavily in building world class medical facilities but sadly, they are not being patronized. A good example is the highly rated Cardiac Centre in Lagos. Considering overheads, salaries, maintenance fees, taxes, and all to be paid; how would the Centre be sustained?
“Healthcare delivery should not be centralized because concentration of such huge funds at the centre remains the root cause of unbridled corruption, perennial strikes and other afflictions in the sector.”
He frowned at the idea of the central government bailing out states in payment of salaries and arrears for workers, which makes the ongoing clamour for restructuring a healthy development that can generate positive impact in the nation’s healthcare system.
His words, “if the country is restructured, health will gain more attention from different states and there will be competition. For instance, Akwa Ibom State established a world class medical centre capable of attracting people from other states for surgeries, as well as serve as medical tourism. The competition will encourage people in the Diaspora to come and invest more in Nigeria.”
The Rector of Institute of Healthcare Finance & Management (IHFM), the brain child of HMCAN, Dr. Richard Kalada, submitted that “the health insurance has come a long way, and at twenty, unalloyed professionalism, strong regulations, and adherence to rules by practitioners, remain the means to grow the industry in the country.”
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