FG approves N12.9bn health care provision fund
The Federal Government has approved payment of N12,911bn through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
The amount covers the 2023 fund for one quarter and to be utilized in the third quarter of 2024.
This is in consonance with the 2020 BHCPF guideline, pending the review of the new guideline.
This was disclosed by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, during the 7th meeting of the BHCPF Ministerial Oversight Committee in Abuja.
Recall that in March, 2024, the FG authorised payment of N25 billion through the BHCPF in all the 36 states.
D’Gallery gathered that the allocated funds were targetted at direct facility financing and workforce incentives across the states.
Available data from the BHCPF and the Africa Health Budget Network shows that from 2019 to 2022, funds disbursed through BHCPF was estimated at N89 billion.
According to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, only 7,250 out of the 35,514 Primary Healthcare Centres in the country are currently benefiting from the BHCPF.
Pate said that in line with Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal Initiative and President Bola Tinubu’s approval for a Sector-Wide Approach, urgent comprehensive reforms were being carried out to improve BHCPF.
He said: “A sub-committee set up by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare during the 5th Ministerial Oversight Committee meeting in late 2023, is leading these reforms.”
“Key developments include: Ongoing review of the BHCPF Guideline, with proposed reforms for the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) already approved in March 2024.
“A thorough assessment has revealed significant flaws in the implementation of BHCPF, prompting all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to commit to immediate corrective measures.
“The MOC has approved the release of ₦25 billion to key health agencies to prevent disruption of services while awaiting the new guideline by the third quarter of 2024,” he explained.
According to him, the reforms aimed at better align resources and improve health outcomes, such as increased antenatal coverage, skilled birth attendance, immunisation rates, and overall health insurance coverage in Nigeria.
The Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr Muyi Aina, said that two memos had been submitted and approved by the MOC.
“The first memo, jointly presented by the NCDC Gateway and EMT Gateway, outlined proposed reforms,” he said.
“These reforms focus on programmatic improvements at both state and national levels, as well as fiduciary interventions to ensure proper resource utilisation,” Dr Aina added.
“The second memo focused on the disbursement of N12.9 billion across all states for the third quarter, following a previous approval and disbursement of N25 billion for the first two quarters,” he said.
