Former Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Leke Pitan has said that the Federal government should encourage Nigerians to enrol into the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) for quality healthcare delivery.
Pitan said this during a two-day National Executive Council Meeting of the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGPMPN) in Lagos.
He said ”The Federal Government should make health insurance scheme compulsory as less than 10 million Nigerians have keyed into the scheme.
“We need to encourage Nigerians to adopt health insurance because, it is the best approach to achieving universal health coverage and reduce congestion and pressure at the secondary and tertiary health facilities.
“So, this will enable them to focus on teaching and research to aid preventive and curative medicine.”
He also suggested that democratising the health sector is the best way to move the health sector forward.
He said “We have been suggesting and proposing the way forward in the health sector, since the new administration came in.
“We urge the new government to democratise health and involve private practitioners.
“It should also work out collaboration between the private healthcare providers and the primary healthcare to broaden the base of accessibility to healthcare delivery as well increase facilities for care.”