The federal government has approved N40.7 billion for primary healthcare delivery across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
The government is also expanding the number of primary healthcare facilities benefiting from the fund by 5,000, bringing the total to more than 13,000 facilities.
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The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja while briefing journalists on the outcome of the 16th Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC) meeting on the BHCPF.
Mr Pate said the N40.7 billion represented the federal government’s contribution from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) for the quarter.
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He said increased government revenue nearly doubled monthly disbursements into the fund and allocations to states.
Additional facilities
Mr Pate said the MOC would select the additional 5,000 facilities based on equity considerations, including disease burden, population, and distance to healthcare services.
“The MOC deliberated on those, noted the progress, and is going to add these 5,000 facilities with equity considerations, so that the burden of disease, distance, and population are considered,” he said.
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He said the expansion was intended to channel increased resources towards primary healthcare delivery across the country.
However, Mr Pate said the federal government’s intervention should not be seen as a substitute for spending by state and local governments.
“That’s not the limit. States should at least put that alongside the local government and even do more, because these are issues at the subnational level,” he said.
He urged states and local governments to increase spending on health, education and other social services.
Health workers
The minister also said savings made through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) would be used to recruit frontline health workers.
He said the federal government plans to support the workers for three years, after which states are expected to take responsibility for their employment and increasingly recruit additional personnel.
Mr Pate said the arrangement was part of efforts to address human resource gaps at primary healthcare facilities.
Better procurement
The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Iziaq Salako, said the government was also focusing on ensuring that increased funding was used efficiently.
Mr Salako said the MOC discussed co-procurement of medicines and other health commodities to secure better prices for products supplied to primary healthcare facilities.
“The administration is not only concerned about expanding the funding, but also ensuring that the funds are deployed efficiently to achieve maximum impact,” Mr Salako said.
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He said the government would continue to work with civil society organisations and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to strengthen accountability in the use of healthcare funds.
Mr Salako also announced a decision to include prisoners in the Vulnerable Group Health Insurance Fund.
He said the measure would provide health insurance coverage to about 90,000 prisoners nationwide.
“As we look to expand the people that are covered under health insurance, we are also giving a lot of priority attention to people who are vulnerable, including prisoners,” he said.
The minister said the initiative would let inmates access basic healthcare under the government’s vulnerable health insurance arrangement.
Outbreak response
The ministers also discussed responses to Lassa fever, cholera and diphtheria outbreaks.
Mr Pate said Lassa fever deaths remained a concern and called for more state-level resources to strengthen outbreak response.
He also urged parents to ensure their children are vaccinated against diphtheria, describing it as vaccine-preventable.
“Those children who are vaccinated are unlikely to get diphtheria,” he said.
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