Universal Health Coverage and the National Health Bill
Nigeria has one of the highest under-five mortality burdens in the world. In terms of aggregate health indicators, the infant and under-5 mortality estimates -based on the data from Nigeria demographic and health Survey (NDHS) 2013 – are 69 and 128 deaths per 1,000 live births respectively. Maternal mortality is a grave problem in the country. Across geopolitical zones, variations exits in the key maternal health indicators. The nation’s health care system is also plagued by budgetary constraints and persistent underfunding, inadequate financial protection for the poor and obsolete facilities and equipment. With the realization that urgent and explicit changes are required to improve the delivery system, Federal government Presidential summit on Universal Health Coverage ended with far reaching recommendations that commits all levels of government to place a high priority on establishing mandatory health insurance in Nigeria with special funds to cover the poor, increasing the level and distribution of health care financing to improve the infrastructure and supply of health care services.