The Federal Government yesterday said it had disbursed more than N192 billion to strengthen primary healthcare facilities across Nigeria since the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) began disbursements in 2019.
Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Muyi Aina, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
Aina spoke against the backdrop of the recent National Health Financing Policy Dialogue, NAN reports that the dialogue, with the theme, “Reimagining the Future of Health Financing in Nigeria” was organised by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and partners.
It sought to reimagine financing models that make healthcare more equitable, sustainable, and accessible for all Nigerians. Aina said currency fluctuations and rising service costs continued to strain Nigeria’s health system, even as budget allocations are increasing at both federal and state levels.
He said out-of-pocket expenditure still accounted for a disproportionate share of healthcare spending, with the public sector’s contribution at just 14 per cent. According to him, the government has mobilised N3.5 billion, 60 per cent of which is pooled from mechanisms such as the BHCPF, Global Fund, Gavi, and PEPFAR.
He said the fund was mobilised through the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) and the Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative. Aina said 8,309 facilities nationwide now received quarterly funds under the BHCPF. “Allocations were recently scaled up from an average of N300,000 to between N600,000 and N800,000 per quarter, depending on facility size and patient volume.
“The reform, dubbed BHCPF 2.0, is designed to address real operational costs at the facility level, supporting human resources, essential commodities and infrastructure.”
“Even though budget allocations are growing, the cost of healthcare delivery, vaccines, TB medicines, malaria commodities, and operational programmes is rising even faster,” he said.
He expressed government’s commitment to closing existing financing gaps through stronger cofinancing at the federal, state and local government levels, coupled with performance-based accountability measures.
He said the Federal Government was set to roll out a direct funding mechanism across the country to improve accountability in healthcare spending.
