By Muhammad Auwal
The FCT Primary Health Care Board has urged healthcare centres in the city to be patient as better days are ahead to meet up their basic needs.
The acting Executive Secretary of the board, Ewot Ndaeyo, told newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja that health facilities in Abuja would soon receive a boost, against the backdrop of the complain over the lack of infrastructure in some centres.
Ndaeyo also spoke in response to how the FCT would use the “Basic Health Provision Fund” allocated to the FCT in 2014 by the 8th National Assembly.
According to him, the FCT is among the first batch of states which have started the implementation of the fund for provision of basic healthcare for Nigerian citizens.
“FCT is among the first phase of states that will enjoy this and it has rolled out the basic health provision funds on Aug. 7 this year, this rollout was done at Kuchigoro area of the FCT.
“Before that, we have achieved all the conditions laid down for the utilisation of the fund. We selected 62 primary healthcare facilities, one in each ward for now to benefit from the fund.
“We have also trained those who will be incharge of these facilities, including the ward health committee chairmen and their treasurers on the management of the fund.”
He added that the enrollment of clients, summary tools and other things needed for the utilisation of the fund, including the insurance aspect of the fund, had been put in place to achieve the goal for which it was provided for.
He said that all the captured healthcare centres in the first phase had enrolled clients from their immediate catchment areas to ensure the success of the project.
According to him, the fund for the FCT has already been paid and officials have assessed the platform made for it.
The acting executive secretary said that initiators, reviewers and approval from various captured health centres had received their access codes to the fund, “what is left is to get approval for the plans to takeoff.
“We are to approve the plans for the 62 primary healthcare facilities and push funds directly to the health facilities for them to fulfil the approved plans.”
He, therefore, called on yet to be captured healthcare centres to be patient, adding that another 62 centres were on the line for approval immediately after the first 62 health centres.
