LAGOS – (Federal Ministry of Health Report) – The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole (Prof) has reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to providing Universal Healthcare Coverage through the revitalisation of Primary Healthcare (PHC) for the wellbeing of Nigerians.
The Minister made this known recently in Lagos in his welcome address presented at the 2018 Exhibition & Conference for Leaders in Healthcare organised by Medic West Africa and tagged: “The UHC Roadmap Shaping West Africa’s Healthcare of the Future.” Adewole noted that the PHCs’ revitalisation programme was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari in January 2017 with the aim of revitalising at least 10,000 PHCs nationwide. Adding, this culminates to one PHC per ward with about 110 PHC facilities across the states which makes up one revived Primary Healthcare in each Senatorial Zone.
While stating that additional 71 PHCs were revitalised under the 2017 Appropriation Act, he informed that presently, development partners and some states have revitalised over 4,000 as part of their support to the Programme. He also indicated that the PHC revitalisation programme is geared towards bringing healthcare to the door steps of Nigerians by ensuring that there is one functional PHC facility in every ward.
He further disclosed that the Ministry is striving to ensure the actualisation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) which was established to serve as a major funding vehicle for the Basic Minimum Package of Health Services (BMPHS). According to him, this is meant to increase the fiscal space and overall financing to the health sector with a view to assisting Nigeria achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Lanre Tejuosho (Senator) while narrating the blueprint to achieve the Universal Coverage of Health Service in Nigeria said that part of what his team is doing is to increase public finance, make Health Insurance mandatory, employ result-based approaches and expand health services through the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT).
Earlier in his presentation entitled: “The Importance of Strategic Partnership – Improving Access to Primary Healthcare”, the General Manager of Philips Nigeria, George Uduku stated that healthcare must be mobile and must be sustained. He however reaffirmed his company’s preparedness to assist the Ministry in giving quality healthcare to its citizenry.
George Uduku averred that one of the aims of the conference was to explore how leadership effectiveness can be enhanced and discuss practical ways to avoiding leader burnout. He noted that it also sought to help practitioners to become familiar with the concept of putting the patient first at all times, and the use of effective user-friendly tools that can aid them in improving the quality of care and ensuring patient safety.
