Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday launched the Patient Bill of Rights noting that Nigeria’s quest to attain universal health coverage goes beyond funding.
He also called on stakeholders to join hands with government to deliver quality healthcare to the people.
He spoke at the launching ceremony held at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said “Indeed, healthcare is not merely about what we, as government, put into it in terms of funding, equipment and so on, it is also about what the patient perceives that he or she is getting out of it. I would in fact argue that the latter matters more than the former,” Osinbajo said at the event, organized by the Consumer Protection Council, CPC.
He said government has demonstrated its commitment to universal health coverage by allocating, for the first time in Nigeria, 1% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund towards the funding of key health initiatives, in compliance with the National Health Act in the 2018 Budget.
According to him, the Patients’ Bill of Rights would complement government’s policy and funding interventions.
“It will ensure that the increasing funding that is coming into healthcare in Nigeria translates into a direct improvement in the quality of the final output at what one might call the ‘last mile’ phase of healthcare delivery, the very personal arena of interaction between health personnel and the beneficiaries of the healthcare,” he said.
On human dignity, the Vice president said that there was need to preserve human dignity even as a patient receives quality health-care.
“While of course the ultimate goal is to ensure the patient stays alive and in good health, it is just as important that the journey to the realization of that final goal is underpinned by the full preservation of human dignity. Indeed, the foundational ethos of the medical profession, embodied by the service charter that is the Hippocratic Oath, or its modern iteration, the Declaration of Geneva, fully recognizes the pre-eminence of patient comfort and dignity.
“I would go on to argue that this deference to the supremacy of human dignity is the responsibility not only of medical personnel, but of everyone in the healthcare value chain: government, regulators, insurer, administrator, family and/or primary caregiver, and even the final consumer.”
He described the Patients’ Bill of Rights as a remarkable effort at consensus and common purpose, in the face of the many challenges of healthcare in Nigeria.
“It cuts out noise and distractions, and focuses on what is truly most important: putting people first. It serves as a code of accountability, constantly reminding us of the primary purpose of the healthcare system, and of the obligations of every player and stakeholder in that system. It helps clarify consumers’ expectations of providers, and providers’ responsibilities to consumers.”
While commending all those who worked out the Patients’ Bill of Rights, he called for compliance with the bill.
“Our aim must be to develop a standard worthy of emulation, by ensuring strict compliance with and enforcement of the Patients’ Bill of Rights. We must hold ourselves, professionals and patients accountable to the rights this document enunciates, and when we see others who should, but do not, we must insist that they do.
“It is my fervent hope that this synergy between policy, professionals, regulators, and other vital components such as insurers, and which has produced this Patients’ Bill of Rights, will translate into new standards of quality, equity and dignity in the patient experience in Nigeria. The pre-eminent human right is the right to life.
“But the right to life is a hollow platitude where life itself is without respect for the dignity of the individual. The Patients’ Bill of Right is the bridge of dignity that links the right to life and minimum standards of healthcare that all of us deserve just by being human beings.
“In every step we take to improve the way our people are treated, we are individually and collectively ennobled. Respect for the dignity of one patient dignifies us all.
I thank you for listening.” he said
Also speaking, Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, advised health-care providers to “stop playing god.”
“The right of the patient must be protected while at the same time the right of the providers must be guaranteed.” he said
He said the expectation of government was that the PBoR would further help in the resolve to achieve Universal Health Coverage through strengthened health-care delivery system, building synergy between the service provider and the patient, improving patient’s understanding of health procedures and technologies and improvement of patient’s safety and quality of care.
Adewole also spoke on monitoring of standards of practice both in the private and public sector, ensuring that the need of the vulnerable and marginalized groups are met and that they are treated equitably as well as the need to build trust and confidence between health care providers and patients.
In his opening remarks, the Director-General of CPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, said the “PBoR is our boldest step yet in soft infrastructure in health care.”
He said it was the vital vehicle upon which, even physical infrastructure must ride to truly deliver service.