The federal government has disbursed over N20 billion to support 4,362 Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) in the last two years.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, disclosed this during an interactive session on Government—Citizens Engagement, organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, in Kaduna on Wednesday.
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This is according to a press release signed by Rabiu Ibrahim, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Information and National Orientation.
According to the statement, Mr Pate explained that 274 projects have been executed across 35 tertiary hospitals in the Northern part of the country, serving over 4.5 million outpatients and 1.6 million inpatients.
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The Minister noted that the commitment of the President Bola Tinubu led administration to improving national health outcomes is being matched with action, with the provision of health infrastructure across all levels of healthcare delivery nationwide.
BHCPF
Established in 2014 under Section 11 of the National Health Act, the BHCPF provides funding to enhance access to primary health care.
It was designed to be financed from at least one per cent of the federal government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) 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.
Although it was established in 2014, the fund’s implementation officially began in 2018.
In November 2024, Mr Pate disclosed that about N45 billion had been directly disbursed to PHCs across the country through the BHCPF.
Also, in March this year, he said N32.880 billion had been approved under the BHCPF to enhance healthcare delivery.
He said the funds would be disbursed to states, local governments and 10,000 PHCs nationwide through the BHCPF’s four gateways.
The Secretary of the BHCPF Ministerial Oversight Committee (MOC), Oritseweyimi Ogbe, recently disclosed that since its inception in 2019, the BHCPF has disbursed over N159.2 billion across various gateways to support primary healthcare delivery nationwide.
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Mr Ogbe, however, said that disbursements for Q1 and Q2 of 2025 are still pending due to initial delays in fund releases and recent changes in Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) account signatories.
He added that the Secretariat is working closely with the Monitoring and Evaluation units of the gateways to identify priority BHCPF indicators that directly support the national reform agenda.
To enhance public awareness, he noted that the MOC Secretariat is collaborating with the ICT Department of the Federal Ministry of Health to create a dedicated BHCPF section on the Ministry’s official website.
Importance of a functional PHC
PHCs remain the foundation of Nigeria’s healthcare system, particularly for rural and underserved populations.
They provide essential services such as immunisation, maternal and childcare, health education, treatment of common illnesses, and emergency referrals.
Health experts have repeatedly said that strengthening PHCs is critical to reducing preventable deaths, improving community health outcomes, and moving the country closer to Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The experts also said that functional PHCs reduce the burden on secondary and tertiary hospitals, which are often overwhelmed with cases that could have been managed at the community level.
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