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Workers spend 76% of salaries, earnings accessing healthcare – FG

The Federal Government has raised concerns that the volume of out of pocket expenditure on health was too high, given the 76 percent spent by workers from their salaries and personal earnings on accessing healthcare in the country.
Technical Assistant to the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Nneka Orji, raised the concerns on Thursday in Abuja, at the 47th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN).
Orji, who noted that she has always tracked health expenditure and the finances of health from across all the partners that contribute to financing health in the country, said the global standard for out of pocket health expenditure was between 30 to 40 percent.
In her words: “Out of pocket health expenditure, the one we dip hands into our salaries to spend, has consistently increased. That is not favourable, that is not what we want.
“As at the last tracking that we did, it was 76.6 percent; what that means is that from the salary of every worker, we will be spending from our pocket and private earnings, as high as 76 percent on accessing health care.
“We have a common problem and we will need a collective approach; we are supposed to work together to address this challenge.”
A message delivered on behalf of her principal, the Minister of State for Health, Sen. Olorunnimbe Mamora, had noted that government was aware of the challenges bedevilling health workers, and was willing to collaborate with the health union to harmoniously create a safe work environment for every Nigerian worker.

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