By Aderogba George
NISA Premier Hospitals, Abuja, on Friday appealed to the Federal Government to waive taxes on private hospitals, describing the levies as an increasing burden on healthcare providers.
Dr Musa Shaibu, the Group Managing Director of the hospital, made the appeal during a courtesy visit by the leadership of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Chapter.
Shaibu, a physician and healthcare administrator, said the government owed Nigerians adequate healthcare but that heavy taxation on private hospitals could deny citizens access to quality medical services.
He said there was a need to make quality healthcare more affordable, especially with the introduction of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), which encourages Nigerians to subscribe to health insurance schemes.
“That is one arm of healthcare,health insurance services. But in terms of availability in this country today, how much healthcare do we have? Now, in terms of volume, the public service, general hospitals,they are all over the place, but people are not getting quality care.
“The private practitioners are setting up different levels of hospitals, providing different qualities of care at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
“But I tell you, the burden we are bearing is becoming unbearable.
“Why should hospitals be paying tax as if we are in the hospitality industry? Remember that these taxes that we pay, since the government does not pay us, we increase the tariff on the poor masses,” Shaibu said.
He identified inadequate power supply as another major challenge, noting that healthcare delivery depended heavily on electricity in wards, theatres, vaccine stores, laboratories and other critical facilities.
“I tell you, as of today, this hospital alone usually parts with about 40 million naira every month to generate power. Can the government do anything there? I think so. Can the government come up with a programme to reduce this challenge?
“Government can do a lot to tackle this power challenge, especially for hospitals providing specialised services at particular levels. It is when all these are done that private hospitals can have the comfort to reduce the cost of healthcare,” he said.
Shaibu also identified inadequate training opportunities as a major challenge confronting Nigeria’s health sector, saying many young doctors were unable to secure hospitals for their housemanship programmes after graduation, prompting some to leave the country.
“I am not going to be in this hospital forever. I will soon leave this place. But the younger ones need to be trained.
“You know the biggest problem today: they finish from the universities and decide to Japa because they cannot find where to train.
“There is a mismatch between the establishment of more university teaching hospitals and the capacity to absorb doctors for housemanship. So, all the private hospitals are churning out new doctors, but where to train them to undertake their housemanship programmes remains a challenge.
“Some of these private hospitals have the capacity to absorb doctors for housemanship, but the condition set by the government makes it impossible. NISA hospitals has the capacity to train doctors for housemanship because of the equipment they have,” he said.
He explained that one of the government’s requirements for hospitals seeking approval to train house officers was the provision of accommodation, adding that the condition was difficult for many facilities to meet.
Shaibu said that unless these challenges were addressed, Nigeria would continue to experience the Japa syndrome and medical tourism.
He also attributed some of the challenges in the health sector to macroeconomic conditions, noting that the depreciation of the naira against foreign currencies encouraged the migration of healthcare professionals.
“The exchange rate has to do with some of these problems. The cost of fuel has to do with it. Whether you can pay your house rent has to do with it. Whether your children can go to school safely and come back has to do with it.
“So, these are the biggest things affecting the whole economy, and they are also affecting doctors,” he said. (NAN)
Edited by Halima Sheji
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