The Federal government has approved the disbursement of N25 billion through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) for upgrade of Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the country.
Coordinating minister of health and social welfare, Prof Muhammed Ali Pate, disclosed this at the meeting of the BHCPF Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC), in Abuja.
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He expressed President Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to enhancing the health of citizens through efficient, effective, and quality primary healthcare.
Pate stated that the redesigned BHCPF aims to align resources towards improving health outcomes, with a focus on maternal and child health.
He added that a portion of the funds will be allocated by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to provide financial protection for the poorest and most vulnerable populations.
On the NPHCDA gateway, the minister informed that “The guidelines revision will include increasing direct facility financing in a tiered way to address health inequities, provide additional resources for supervision by States, support for frontline health workers, and drugs/commodities at the PHC levels (more than 8,000 PHCs across the country), and strengthen financial management and accountability.”
He called on civil society organisations and the media to keep a close watch on the resources once they start to flow to each BHCPF-supported PHC facility, to ensure they are used for intended purposes only.
“An email address and reporting line will be made available, enabling citizens to actively participate in monitoring fund implementation. We are committed to ensuring that healthcare resources are utilised effectively and transparently,’’ Pate said.
On his part, the executive director of NPHCDA, Dr Muyi Aina, said the government would leverage software technology to track expenditure at the facility level and ensure funds allocated are utilised appropriately.
He said, “Our goal is to ensure that every Nigerian has access to the basic services they need.”
Speaking on behalf of commissioners for health and human services, Dr Oyebanji Filani, said the states are committed to ensuring that every Nigerian has access to good quality healthcare services.
He said, “By bolstering resources at the state level and fostering stronger collaboration with the federal government, we aim to significantly improve the quality of healthcare services shortly.”