Initiative for Health Accountability and Transparency a local NGO founded to promote good governance and accountability is set to launch Healthcare Integrity Programme (HIP) in Nigeria.
Globally, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has emerged as a high-profile issue in health care delivery. Moving closer to UHC goal requires paying considerable attention and addressing critical governance issues in health care delivery that influence healthcare integrity such as providers’ accountability and behaviors, responsiveness to the health needs and demands, citizens’ voices and participation, and health consumers’ rights etc.
Therefore, Leaders and Managers of healthcare organizations have responsibility for continuous improvement of the safety and quality of their services, ensuring that they are accountable, services are patients centred, safe and effective, and the patients understand and are accorded their rights.
These issues define Healthcare integrity, an ethical concept which describe the practice of being technically competent and doing the right thing, at the right time by the right person and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong professional and ethical principles and values.
Integrity in healthcare is well known to help improve functionality, effectiveness and efficiency in health care delivery, impact positively on consumers’ experience, increase service utilization resulting in improved health system performance.
Unfortunately, such improvements have not been well realized in Nigeria, primarily because healthcare integrity issues have not been given sufficient attention, and quite often, lack of provider accountability and behaviour leaves stain on patients experience, and voices of health consumers have not always heard.
Although there are extant provisions in both the National Health Act of 2014 and the Patient Bill of Rights (PBR) of 2018, all intended at promoting the twin concepts of providers’ accountability and health consumers’ rights, not much has been achieved in their operationalization.
Consequently, Initiative for Health Accountability and Transparency (IHAT), a local NGO founded to promote Good Governance and Accountability in the health system is seeking to launch a Healthcare Integrity Programme: Campaign for Providers’ Accountability and Consumers’ Rights in Health in collaboration with strategic partners and stakeholders including the Federal Ministry of Health, National Health Insurance Scheme, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Regulatory Institutions, SERVICOM and other relevant stakeholders.
Goal and Objectives
The goal of the programme is to ensure high standards of healthcare and patients satisfaction, while the specific objectives, among others is to:
- Improve public awareness and consciousness on providers’ accountability and health consumers’ rights and strengthen health consumers’ voice.
- Ensure providers discharge their responsibilities fairly and in a responsive manner, meeting the healthcare needs and demands of the consumers.
- Improve responsiveness of providers to the needs and demands of health consumers and impact positively on patients’ experience.
Programmes and Activities
In order to achieve the set objectives, several activities will be implemented including advocacy to political leaders, policy makers and health managers, collaboration with strategic partners, developing and deploying of digital solutions, workshops and meetings, periodic monitoring, supervision and surveillance of healthcare delivery through patrols/field visits to healthcare facilities etc.
For more information, contact:
.jpg)
+2348036170644
Mail: abdullahionly@yahoo.com
