‘FG needs $700m to revitalise primary health care’

From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja

Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, has said the Federal Government needs about $700 million to achieve its promise of revitalising 10,000 primary health care centres (PHCs) within the next two years.
President Muhammadu Buhari in January launched a scheme to revitalise 10,000 PHCs, with the inauguration of the Model Primary Health Care Centre, Kuchigoro, Abuja.
Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, at the launch of scheme, stated that it was aimed at providing poor Nigerians with qualitative and affordable health services.
Speaking at the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) leadership retreat for chief executives of health institutions in Abuja yesterday, Shuaib disclosed that Federal Government would partner with investors to fund the repositioning of the primary level of health service, as government alone could not raise $700 million.
He argued that a private-public partnership funding had become necessary to finance the expansion of PHCs in rural areas, adding that the provision of quality care at the ward level was fundamental to achieving the country’s goal of reducing infant and maternal mortality.
NMA national president, Prof. Mike Ogirima, blamed years of inadequate funding for the dilapidated state of health infrastructure in Nigeria, especially at the primary level.
He, however, said that committed leadership at health institutions, hospitals and PHCs, and available resources could be well managed to improve the experience of patients seeking care at government-owned facilities.