By Muhammad Amaan
The Federal Government said N45 billion has been disbursed directly to the Primary Healthcare Centres in the country through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate said this on Wednesday in Abuja at the ongoing three-day Nigeria Health Sector-Wide Joint Annual Review in Abuja.
He stated, “The Basic Health Care Provision Fund 2.0 reform uses equity considerations in distributing financial and human resources to over 8,000 primary healthcare centres through direct facilities, and N45bn has already been disbursed through direct facilities to the state and to serve our population.
“We’ve mobilised with our partners more than N3 billion in terms of complementary funding over three years, including N2.1billion that we have confirmed over time, which will complement the Federal Government’s effort.
“And in the last year, several facilities have been revitalised already, and 2,600 are currently being at late stages of being upgraded through the states, and these are resources that we know will also help make our PHCs functional, and two additional thousand facilities will also be revitalised as part of this effort.
“As a demonstration of the president’s commitment to improving the health workforce, we announced 120,000 frontline health workers to be retrained. More than 40,000 have so far been retrained, and we are on our way to meet and exceed the target.”
He emphasised that there has been significant improvement in infectious diseases, ranging from 40 per cent reduction in diarrheal diseases, 24 per cent reduction in TB, 12 per cent in HIV.
“With this political commitment, we can accelerate that in the right direction, and 17 states have already shown improved performance on modern contraceptives, and six have already doubled.
“Following the executive order signed by the President, we know that at least 40 businesses have placed business cases to invest in local manufacturing. We’ve signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Afreximbank for a billion-dollar credit line through the Afreximbank.
“Our health security is also making progress, and in terms of perception, based on the survey that we conducted, the perception of Nigerians has improved. About half Nigerians have endorsed the trajectory of Nigeria’s health system in the direction that the President is taking us, and more than half are confident of the government’s capacity to effectively manage health emergencies.”
The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma noted that despite efforts to improve under five and infant mortality rates, the figures remain unacceptably high.
Governor Uzodinma, who represented the Nigeria Governors’ Forum said, “We know there have been some improvements in health indicators, particularly in reducing under five and infant mortality rates, these figures remain unacceptably high.
“Moreover, we have seen worsening trends in neonatal mortality and malnutrition, these statistics highlight the urgency of our work.
“We must continue to work together, recognising the unique challenges each state faces while maintaining our shared focus on achieving better health outcomes for all Nigerians, I would also like to commend the Minister of Health for his continued effort to translate the compact into action.
“The series of engagements carried out across all 36 states have ensured that key stakeholders are aligned on the sector-wide groups and understand the roles in each process.”
He reiterated the commitment of the NGF to the intent of the health sector compact, and improving the health sector.
