Health experts have recently advocated for a unitary healthcare system in the country for better care to all Nigerians.

Speaking at a symposium, to mark the sixth anniversary of the Nigeria Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Director General (DG) Prof. Innocent Ujah in office, they said the unitary system would enable standardisation in the healthcare system nationwide.

Ujah said that the system should work for Nigeria because it is a platform to measure progress and standards among states. And it would as well help reduce the country’s health indices at the same pace.

The NIMR boss said that the Federal Government needed to make policies for all states to operate on, because it would serve as a peer review mechanism as the practice is in other countries.

“The system can also harness the nation’s resources since it has the capacity to decrease the cost of expenditure on medical equipment and consumables among others, Unified health system is what we should go for,” Ujah added.

Similarly, Consultant Obstetrician and Gyneacologist with the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, Prof. Oladapo Shittu, also explained that unlike in most countries around the world where unitary healthcare system is practiced, Nigeria’s constitution stipulates that healthcare is a shared responsibility among federal, state and the local governments.

So, FG cannot entirely influence what happens in any state in terms of healthcare because in that system, affairs are operated from the capital city.

Oladapo said it was rather unfortunate that the current healthcare system in the country is fragmented.

He gave an instance where Ondo was the only state in the country that achieved Millennium Development Goal (MDG) five owned to the fragmented nature of the system.

“The state governor prioritises health and as a result, they are committed and invested in it, but we at the federal level didn’t achieve it,” he said.