Abstract for: Implementation of Sustainable Health Equity in Nigeria’s Formal and Informal Sector

Nigeria health system ranks 187th out of 191 countries in health system performance (Anyika, 2014). According to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF, 2018), it has the 14th highest maternal mortality rate and 3rd highest number of new born mortality rate. The ranking of Nigeria’s health care system can be linked to the small proportion of the population covered by the insurance scheme and the prevalence of out of pocket health expenses (Okunogbe, 2016).The National Health Insurance Scheme was borne out of the desire to create a universal health care access in Nigeria (Adewole & Osungbade, 2016). It started operations in 2005 and for over 10years of existence, less than 10% of Nigerians have health insurance (Okunogbe, 2016), leaving majority of the informal sector and state workers uncovered by the scheme. Various linear approaches have been applied to study the challenges associated with Nigeria health insurance scheme and health system but Very limited studies have considered the Nigeria health insurance scheme using a systemic approach to explore the complexities, characteristics, interactions amongst health variables, and the feedback effect of the interactions and relationships of systems, hence this study.