By Haruna Gimba
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Primary Health Care Board said the newly introduced Basic Health Care Provision Fund by the Federal Government will boost access to primary healthcare.
Acting Executive Secretary of the board, Dr Ndeayo Iwot disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Abuja. He explained that the funds, when released, would be channeled directly to the primary health facilities to address challenges of infrastructure, staffing and drugs.
“The Basic Health Provision Fund was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 8. It is one per cent of monies in the consolidated revenue to be accessed by six states and the FCT in the first instance.
Prof. Isaac Adewole
“The fund will go a long way to improve and widen citizens’ access to primary health care in the FCT. This is because it would be deployed directly to the health facilities to address infrastructure, staffing and drugs challenges,” he said.
Iwot said that the FCT had met conditions for accessing the fund, and had mapped out plans on how to use it to improve healthcare for the benefit of residents.
He said: “Part of the conditions for accessing the funds is for the facilities to have an approved plan, which must be executed when the funds are received. We are also required to have the State Health Insurance Scheme in place, as well as N100 million in a dedicated fund.
“All these conditions will determine the quantum of funds to be accessed by each beneficiary and FCT has met virtually all the conditions,’’ he stressed.
The acting executive secretary said that health care systems depended on partnerships, adding that the board recognised the patients as the most important partner in the sector.
