World Health Organisation (WHO) said Nigeria has the highest out-of-pocket expenditure on health in West Africa. In 2020, the country’s out-of-pocket expenditure was 74.7 per cent.
  
At a retreat for commissioners of health from the 36 states of the country, WHO representative in Nigeria, Walter Kazadi Mulombo, regretted that more Nigerians are falling into poverty due to ill-health while many do not have access to the essential health services they need.
  
Mulombo also expressed concern over the increase in non-communicable diseases, which he said is compounded by a high burden of communicable diseases and multiple outbreaks.
   
“This indeed entails shifting focus from mere concept to actions with demonstrable results, for greater resilience in the health sector, even in the face of emergencies.
   
“As leaders of the health sector very close to the people, it is demanded of you now, more than ever, to keep primary health care high on the agenda of your governments and ensure priority investment in its development.”
   
Former chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Kayode Fayemi, called on the Nigerian Dental and Medical Registration Council (NDMRC) to seize the licences of young health workers until they complete about three to five years of service in the country.
   
Fayemi, who was the keynote speaker, urged NDMRC to take advantage of the National Health Service scheme to ensure licenced and newly trained health workers serve the country first before exporting their expertise to other nations.  
   
“…While you are doing that, your licence is held by the NDMRC that gives you that license. And once you’re done, you can decide whether you want to stay or you want to leave,” he said.
   
Meanwhile, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria control, Amobi Ogar, has advocated free distribution of malaria drugs in the country.
   
Speaking during the inaugural meeting of the committee at the National Assembly complex in Abuja, he expressed concern over the havoc the disease is wreaking on the populace.  
   
He also expressed readiness to partner relevant ministries, departments and agencies, donor bodies, and non-governmental organisations to achieve the objective.