What second devt plan, basic fund hold for Nigerian health sector

Over 70% of payment for healthcare services in Nigeria is done from out of pocket expenditure meaning that people pay most of their healthcare bills from their little income. This has made it difficult for many particularly poor Nigerians to access healthcare. Health is a fundamental human right and one of the effective ways to […]

Over 70% of payment for healthcare services in Nigeria is done from out of pocket expenditure meaning that people pay most of their healthcare bills from their little income. This has made it difficult for many particularly poor Nigerians to access healthcare.

Health is a fundamental human right and one of the effective ways to ensure access is through Universal Health Coverage.

According to the World Health Organsiation (WHO)  Universal Health Coverage means “ensuring that all people have access to needed health services (including prevention, promotion, treatment, rehabilitation and palliation) of sufficient quality to be effective while ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.”

Therefore Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for Nigerians means that all Nigerians get quality healthcare services where and when needed without suffering financial hardships irrespective of their economic status. It aims at ensuring that more Nigerians, particularly the poorest and vulnerable population have access to quality health care services without undergoing financial hardship.

However, inspite of successes recorded in the health sector in the last few years, there are still pockets of barriers towards making healthcare affordable and available to all Nigerians.

Last month , the Federal Government launched the second National Strategic Health Development Plan  (NSHDP II) 2018 -2022 , and also rolled out the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF).These programmes  in addition to the calls to make  health  insurance mandatory  for everyone, experts say, will make healthcare accessible and affordable for all Nigerians..

The Second National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP II) is a five-year road map for policy implementation on improved health and well-being of Nigerians and also prioritizes  health promotion and intervention.

In May 2018, the federal government passed the Appropriation Act with the inclusion of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) a key component of the National Health Act (NHA)  that ensures a basic minimum health package for Nigerians. The act was passed into law in 2014 as part of actions towards the Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria, and May 2018.

The Basic Health Care Provision Fund  (BHCPF) is derived from a minimum of one per cent (1%) of the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) .

The first six states to benefit from the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) are Abia, Niger, Osun, Katsina, Yobe, Edo and FCT.

According to the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, funding is critical for a quality health system , and one of the things this administration has done to improve the country’s health  system and ensure Universal Health Coverage is putting in place the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and appropriating N55 billion in the 2018 budget  .

He said government targets improving primary healthcare services in the country and has put in place measures that for the first time will ensure that primary healthcare centres  get money  directly. He said 45% will be channelled  through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA),  50 % to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and 5 % to emergency services.

President Muhammadu Buhari  said the launch of  the 2nd National Strategic Health Development Plan (2018-2022) and the roll out of the N55 Billion Basic Health Care Provision Fund to six states and the Federal Capital Territory was geared towards achieving Universal Health Coverage in the country.

Speaking during the launch of the programmes in Abuja, he said his administration provided N55 billion to cater for Basic Healthcare Provision Fund in fulfillment of the National Health Act 2014 which stipulated that 1% of the consolidated revenue shall be allocated to health sector,  adding that international partners such as World Bank, Bill and Malinda Gates Foundation and USAID would also contribute to the fund.

The president, who was represented by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, said that transparency and accountability mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that there is no corruption in the use of the fund and to ensure sustainability.

He added that it was also aimed at ensuring that quality healthcare services was delivered to majority of Nigerians irrespective of their education or social status in the country.

He said: “We shall focus more on the people leaving in the rural areas and the vulnerable population in our society, such as women, children under five years of age and the elderly.”

Minister of Health Professor Isaac Adewole said that the Second National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP II) was designed to enable the federal and states government implement health policies in the country according to laid down procedure.

While saying that the document was approved  by the Federal Executive Council on September 5th 2018, he added that the overall goal was ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being of Nigerian populace.

 

He added that the implementation of the plan would in the next five years greatly improve the Nigeria health system and also drastically reduce maternal mortality rate.

On the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF), the minister said Nigerians would benefit free of charge from 52 healthcare service interventions in the hospitals practising the programme. The free services, would cover antenatal care, labor and Delivery care (including caesarian sections) and Emergency Obstetric and Neonatal care.

Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, said the role of governors in the implementation of the healthcare progammes was crucial since health was on the concurrent list.

The governor promised that the BHCPF programme would be properly implemented to ensure that   Nigerians at the grassroots enjoy quality healthcare as stipulated by the programme.

He said that 21 states had promulgated health insurance funding and that some states have committed 2% of their budgets to the scheme.

The National Advocates for Health (NAH), a group of 26 eminent Nigerians chaired by Prof. Dapo Ladipo commended the government for the launch of the NSHDP 2  and Basic Health Provision Fund,  saying that full implementation of the programmes will improve maternal and child health, especially for vulnerable groups, provision of basic minimum packages including live saving drugs, immunization and family planning at the primary health care level.

Barrister Ayo Adebusoye  of  the coalition of CSOs and other professional associations in the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health at Scale (PACFaH@Scale) said  government’s funding of the second National Strategic Health Development Plan (NSHDP II) and ensuring accountability in its implementation would help the country achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Commissioner  of Health, Niger State, Dr Mustapha Jibrin,  said the Basic Health  Care Provision Fund  (BHCPF)would go a long way to strengthen primary healthcare services and add more resources to the health sector.

It is hoped that  the target at strengthening primary healthcare facilities will help  rural dwellers like Abel Gabriel  of Lanto village, Kuje District; Alhaji Rabo Sarkin Noma, of Roguwa Community of Uke Kingdom in Nasarawa State, and Malam Garba Giwa of Tunga Ashere, Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

Before government’s launch of the programmes , they had told Daily Trust Saturday during separate visits to their communities, that they face severe hardships accessing and affording health care treatments because of  the absence of  functional healthcare centres in their communities.

Abel Gabriel  said  residents of Lanto, Tudun Rami and Rijia Bukwai villages,  in Kuje District, Abuja, had to cross a river with canoe to a neigbouring community for expensive medical care because there was no bridge linking the communities.

Alhaji Rabo Sarkin Noma and Malam Garba Giwa said many residents of the communities could not afford to pay for diagnosis and treatment of diseases like bilharzia, stomach ache in children, typhoid and malaria and pregnancy related and childhood illnesses that affected them regularly.