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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Primary Health Care Development Agency (NHPCDA) has announced that 5,000 new Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) would be added to the pool of PHCs that benefit from the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF).
This, it said, will herald an improved access to quality and affordable basic healthcare services, notably, immunization, antenatal and postnatal services, attention to some communicable diseases, and a few other interventions.
Executive Director, NHPCDA, Dr. Muyi Aina, told journalists at a media interaction in Abuja, on Wednesday, that the Ministry Oversight Committee (MOC) for the implementation of BHCPF chaired by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, has approved the decision and currently effecting the action.
He said: “Currently, about 8, 000 PHCs are benefiting from the BHCPF. But with the recent action, the figure has increased to over 13, 000. However, our target is to hit 17, 000 as quickly as possible so that more people would have access to quality basic healthcare services as recommended by the National Health Act.”
He disclosed that certain considerations were made in distributing the 5, 000 PHCs which included patronage, location, and other factors that would further enhance access to the PHC services. “The goal is to have, at least, one fully functional level-two PHC facility per ward and then the rest of them will be distributed based on needs and gaps, and we have started that process now in the third quarter of this year.”
Dr. Uzoamaka Epundu, Acting Director, Special Duties, NHPCDA, in a presentation, explained that the disbursement to each PHC benefitting from BHCPF has increased by, at least, 200 per cent, due to the economic realities in the country.
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She further disclosed that some PHCs are even receiving more funds than others, perhaps, because of the high volume of patronage and services they render to the rural communities.
She also stated that access to cold-chain services has improved at the various PHC levels, and that has been key to maintaining the quality and potency of the vaccines and other commodities therein.
On his side, the Director of Disease and Immunization, NPHCDA, Dr. Rufai Ahmed, disclosed that sustained actions are being taken to significantly reduce the high burden of zero-dose children particularly in northern Nigeria.
He disclosed that several tracing measures have been deployed to track zero-dose children at various locations. “Our target is to ensure that no child is left unvaccinated in Nigeria.
“For identify, enumerate and vaccinate strategy, we have documented 7.4 million children and vaccinated over 3.4 million of them with different vaccines including polio. About 163,000 of them are on the zero-dose pool. We have done some campaign to bridge the gap
“We have invested in cold-chain infrastructure. A good number of the PHCs now have solar-powered refrigerators. We have also revamped distribution channels to reduce the cases of out of stock for vaccines. There are NPHCDA
hubs in kano, Abuja, Lagos, among several other efforts to sustain the momentum and successes recorded in the vaccination across the country.”
