The Nigerian government has revitalised 901 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the country over the past year, as part of efforts to strengthen healthcare system in the country.
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Muyi Aina, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday during the agency’s first quarterly press briefing for 2025,
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Mr Aina said the revitalisation drive—implemented in collaboration with state governments, development partners, and the private sector—is aimed at ensuring every ward in Nigeria has at least one fully functional PHC capable of offering round-the-clock care.
He said additionally, over 2,700 PHCs are currently undergoing upgrades, with completion targeted by the end of 2025.
He noted that the goal is to have at least one fully functional PHC per ward across the country.
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According to him, over 26,000 PHCs were assessed in two batches under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
“We have assessed PHCs in two batches, BHCPF 8,400+ in batch one and 18,024 in batch two,” he said.
“In the last year, working with the States, development partners and the private sector, I am glad to report that we have jointly revitalised 901 PHCs. Additionally, work is ongoing in over 2,700 PHCs, to be completed by the end of 2025.”
Mr Aina said the agency has also launched a live dashboard—phc.nphcda.gov.ng—to track the status of PHC upgrades nationwide.
“In line with our accountability framework, we have introduced a live dashboard that tracks how we are doing. Nigerians can see the evidence themselves. Anybody can click and see the state of the PHCs,” he said.
Funding and Reforms
The Executive Director stated that in 2024, N22 billion was disbursed to States through the NPHCDA gateway while total disbursements across the four gateways of the BHCPF amounted to N51 billion.
The four BHCPF gateways are the NPHCDA (for PHC and services readiness); the National Health Insurance Authority (ensures people are financially protected); the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (deals with health security); and the National Emergency Medical and Ambulance Services (facilitates logistics to ensure people can get to the health facilities during emergency).
To improve service delivery, Mr Aina said quarterly allocations to PHCs have been increased from N300,000 to N800,000 for high-volume facilities, and N600,000 for low-volume ones.
He said these funds are supplemented by capitation payments under the NHIA and other insurance programmes.
He also announced plans to increase the number of BHCPF-supported PHCs from 8,406 to 17,600 over the next four years.
Mr Aina disclosed that non-functional facilities identified during recent assessments are being delisted and replaced.
“It is also important to state that we are not expanding to two PHCs per ward. What we are doing is working with the states and subnational units to allocate the additional facilities to wards on a need based depending on the gaps, disease burden, high population and other equity considerations. Some will have one or two or three facilities per ward depending on needs,” he said.
Strengthening BHCPF
Mr Aina explained that as part of efforts to strengthen the BHCPF, the government is mobilising an additional $1bn in donor support to enhance primary healthcare services.
He noted that to ensure accountability and efficient use of these funds, a PHC financial management app has been developed and piloted in Rivers, Ekiti, Gombe, and Kaduna States.
The app, which will be scaled up nationwide, automates business planning, income and expenditure tracking, and helps to reduce delays in fund disbursement and improve financial transparency.
Established in 2014, the BHCPF was designed to be financed from not less than one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federal government and other sources including donors’ contributions.
The Fund provides a Basic Minimum Package of Health Services (BMPHS) aimed at increasing the fiscal space for health, strengthening the national health system, particularly at the PHC level, and ensuring access to healthcare for all.
In November 2024, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, said the government has disbursed about N45 billion directly to PHCs across the country through the BHCPF.
Also, last month, Mr Pate, a professor said N32.880 billion has been approved under the BHCPF to enhance healthcare delivery.
Workforce and service uptake
Mr Aina noted that the government is also prioritising workforce development, with a target of deploying at least four skilled birth attendants to every functional PHC.
He mentioned that the First Lady Oluremi Tinubu is supporting the effort through the donation of 60,000 professional kits to frontline workers under her Renewed Hope Initiative, aimed at boosting morale and improving infection control.
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Mr Aina said PHC utilisation is increasing, with over 20 million patient visits recorded each quarter and antenatal care uptake doubling over the past year.
“The number of women accessing ante-natal care has doubled. In 2024, six million pregnant women received folic Acid and multiple micronutrient supplementation; 43 million children have received Vitamin A supplementation; nine million children received deworming tablets; Over six million children are fully vaccinated against vaccine preventable diseases,” he said.
