Block A, 2nd Floor, Remodeled Waterlines Building, Port-Harcourt-Aba Road, Rivers State
RIVCHPP Program Details
October 29, 2024
National Conference on SSB Tax and Healthcare Financing
In the recent "National Conference on SSB Tax and Healthcare Financing," held in Abuja on 29th October 2024, the Acting Executive Secretary of Rivers Contributory Health Protection Programme, [RIVCHPP] , Dr Vetty Agala, served as one of the panelists.
At the conference, the issue of the surge in Non-communicable diseases and the immense strain it is having on Nigeria's healthcare system and economy was exhaustively discussed.
The conference, which has as the theme, " Health Tax as Recipe for Improved Healthcare Financing," looked at the issues of NCDs prevention and sustainable healthcare financing to effectively address the rising burden of NCDs in the face of limited resources available to the populace was discussed.
The RIVCHPP Executive Secretary, who talked on " The Economic Costs of NCDs versus Dwindling Healthcare Resources," averred that " the poor are the ones who suffer more from the effects of non-communicable diseases," saying that over 70% of Nigerian population are in the informal sector and reside in the rural area. They can hardly afford healthcare .
Dr. Agala, who reiterated that donor fatigue is already eating deep into the provision of healthcare for the people, opined that there is a need for creating more health awareness, which will make people change their behaviour and stay healthy.
The RIVCHPP Executive Secretary suggested that there is a need to look at domestic resources mobilisation since most of the health donor support are dwindling, opining that the taxation of sugar sweetened beverages and earmarking resources towards health insurance coverage for the poor or allocate in scales of public health importance should be the way to go.
