The House of Representatives has urged President Bola Tinubu to allocate part of the fuel subsidy removal savings to funding healthcare services for the vulnerable.

This followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Bashiru Dawodu (APC-Lagos) at plenary in Abuja.

The motion is titled, “Call on the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to cover vulnerable Nigerians.”

Presenting the motion, Mr Dawodu said that socio-economic development was not achievable without access to quality and affordable healthcare services.

He said that the World Health Assembly in 2005 adopted universal health coverage as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Agenda 2030.

He said that after 23 years, only 5 million Nigerians were enrolled by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA).

He said that over 83 million vulnerable Nigerians, including pregnant women, children under five, persons with special needs, and the elderly, were not captured by the NHIS.

He said that this made Nigeria unable to meet the targets of universal coverage, adding that it therefore increased the rate of out-of-pocket health expenditure.

He said that the health care crisis would not be resolved without universal health care coverage, which cannot be achieved without meeting the target of the National Health Insurance.

He said the NHIA Act of 2022 mandated health insurance for all citizens and legal residents, which had failed, adding that in 2022, NNPC Ltd. spent N.4 trillion on fuel subsidy and N3.6 trillion in the first six months of 2023.

He said that it costs about N5 billion to cover N5 million people annually at the rate of NI5,000 per person.

He also urged NHIA to ensure implementation and monitoring while mandating the House Committees on Health Institutions and Finance to ensure compliance.

(NAN)