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As the Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) kicks off in the nation’s capital Abuja, the Gates Foundation Nigeria has called on all stakeholders to build an inclusive and resilient workforce which will be the base for a strong Primary Health Care System in the country.
Representing the foundation at a session titled: The health Productivity-Link: Building a Resilient Workforce, Khalilu Mohammad explored the links between a productive health workforce and building an efficient and productive primary health care system.
“Health is the engine room for productivity,” Khalilu said while drawing the link between a productive health workforce and working systems. “We need to strengthen the community health workforce because research has shown that if you invest in community health workforce, you get 10 times the return because the community health workers deliver growth,” he said.
Also speaking at the session, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer (DG/CEO) of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Kelechi Ohiri bemoaned the situation where many Nigerians still pay out of pocket for health expenses. Ohiri said the linkage between Human Capital Development and health is clear adding that government investment is required to improve health infrastructures and systems in the country.
Ohiri said: We can’t afford to be inefficient; it is very obvious that we have a shortage of health workers and we cannot scale up, so we have to look towards technology. We need to deploy alternative procurement model and public sector must leverage on private sector which has the experience to make it happen.”
Speaking further, Muhammad who is a Senior Officer, Health Systems Strengthening Delivery Enablement at Gates Foundation reinforce the importance of sustainability which can only happen when government prioritise health spending and budget realistically.
He said: “We need to prioritise our health workers while mainstreaming the PHC. There are health workers at the frontlines that are doing everything to make us healthy. We must build their capacity. Also, because the PHC is rooted in the community, we must also build the voices and accountability at grassroots level.
“Our focus has to be on government to prioritise the PHC workforce. Is the workforce showing up at the right time and are they doing the right thing? These are the things we need to put in place.
“ Lastly, the issue of sustainability is key and that is why at the Gates Foundation, we are working with some state governors to prioritise their state health spending and become more efficient,” he said.
