By Muhammad Amaan
A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has commended the Nigerian Senate over the Amendment to the National Health Act passed by the Senate to increase health funding under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
The CSOs Coalition was led by the Vaccines Network for Disease Control (VNDC) on a visit to the Chairperson of the Senate’s Committee on Health, Senator Ipalibu Banigou, following the major legislative milestone.
The visit comes on the heels of the passage of the amendment to the National Health Act, which seeks to significantly boost healthcare funding in Nigeria.
Health Reporters Newspaper reports that central to the amendment, is the increase of the BHCP from not less than 1% to not less than 2% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
According to the stakeholders, the move is a critical step towards strengthening primary healthcare services, expanding health insurance coverage and improving access to essential care, especially for vulnerable populations.
Receiving the coalition, Senator Banigo said, “We deal with over 80% of the health problems that we have in the health system. And seeing that 1% really cannot carry what the population is recently.
“When we came in, we now sought a way to increase the percentage so that it can carry more of the weight of the problem that the health system has.”
On her part, the Executive Director of the Vaccines Network for Disease Control, Ms Chika Offor, said the increase of the National Health Act from 1% to 2% by Senate, means that the primary healthcare centres will be strengthened and children can access qualitative healthcare.
She added that many lives will be saved and women can grow their pregnancy with happiness.
The Chairperson of Health Sector Reform Coalition, Mohammed Lecky, said the intervention that CSOs made to the Senate is a major leap forward for the entire country.
“It means we have more money that will be going for immunization, for human resources equipment and innovation. Which I think it is a giant issue,” he said.
The Country Director of Global Health Advocacy Incubator, Emmanuel Hassa, said the CSOs will still be doing advocacy with the Federal House of Representatives.
“We do hope that, as soon as possible, there iss concurrence, and then the committee of the whole will meet so that this bill can move from the National Assembly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And thereafter, we also want to appeal in advance to President Tinubu to give speedy concurrence and assent to the bill,” he said.
