By Hassan Zaggi
Plans have been concluded for experts to brainstorm on ways and modalities to achieve Universal Health Care (UHC) in Nigeria.
The experts, in a panel, will be discussing on the topic “Achieving Universal Health Care: The Role of Science, Faith and the Media”, during a media science café, on the sides of the 11th Biennal conference of the Africa Christian Health Associations Platform (ACHAP).
In a pre-activity advisory, the organizers revealed that the discussion is supported by ACHAP, CORUS International and facilitated by a global health media Non Governmental Organisation (NGO)- Internews.
The Café, according to the Project Coordinator, Promoting COVID – 19 Vaccine Equity through Faith Based Networks in Africa ( CoVFaB), Ruth Gemi, aims to help journalists understand the full extent of the challenge of UHC in Nigeria and Africa and unearth potential story angles.
“The open discussions will contextualize UHC and essential health care against the backdrop of broken and fragile health systems, the growing resource crunch for UHC, inadequate pandemic preparedness and climate change, together with the concerning rise of global and local inequities,” she said in the pre-activity advisory to journalists.
The expert panel, according to the advisory, will be composedby the Associate Vice President and Senior Technical Director for Health and Nutrition at Corus International, Dr. Dennis Cherian and Rev. Fr. Genesis Onah Agbudu,Veritas University, representing Our Lady of Fatima Hospital, Bwari, Abuja.
Others includeaward-winning Science Journalist, Editor, ManoReporters.com, Freetown, Liberia,Kemo Cham, and Senior Health Journalism Advisor, Internews, Dr. Jaya Shreedhar.
Experts have, however, expressed concern that UHC has been stagnating since 2015 and without it, catastrophic medical expenses are pushing people into poverty.
