• Why cost of accessing healthcare will continue to rise, by UCH CMD

About $100 trillion of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could be lost to Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) by 2050, with low and middle-income countries most negatively impacted.

This was as the Federal Government expressed commitment to contributing to the global response on AMR and ensuring responsible use of antimicrobials.

Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), Ifedayo Adetifa, who disclosed this in Abuja, yesterday, said every year, AMR directly causes 1.27 million deaths, and is associated with an additional 3.7 million fatalities.

He noted that low and middle-income countries, including Nigeria, bear the brunt, accounting for nearly 90 per cent of the death toll. Adetifa lamented that over 99.5 per cent of AMR-related deaths occur among under-five children, adding that recent studies have shown that more people die directly from AMR than from HIV/AIDS, malaria, or any one form of cancer other than lung cancer.

He said: “In Africa, the burden of death attributed to AMR was highest in West Africa, at 27.3 deaths per 100,000, making it a super region for deaths due to drug-resistant pathogens. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there are 15 priority antibiotic-resistant pathogens causing the greatest threat to human and animal health, and four of them have been detected in Nigeria. The impact of AMR on the economy, health systems and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is enormous.”

Also, Chief Medical Director (CMD) of University College Hospital, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, yesterday, said the cost of accessing healthcare in Nigeria will continue to rise, unless drastic steps are taken.

Addressing a news conference to celebrate the 66th anniversary of the premier health institution, Otegbayo submitted that the prevailing economic situation was fuelling the high cost of healthcare.

He said the effectiveness of universal healthcare, through health insurance, fixing of primary healthcare and reduction of the nation’s population, are pivotal to accessing delivery.

The CMD said: “We all know that the economy of this country is not smiling at anyone. So, the cost of accessing healthcare will continue to increase, because of inflation.

“However, there is a solution. For me, the solution is universal healthcare. In any system where people pay out of pocket, it becomes unaffordable at a level. As a practitioner, I have seen people that don’t have money. It is not at the point of care that you ask people to bring out money.

“In the United Kingdom, the government pays and deducts it as a tax. That is what they use to tax. What amazes me, even for foreigners who are not paying tax, if you have an emergency, they will treat you free of charge. It is an amazing system. I hope our system will be like that.”