Nigeria: Health Minister discusses govt’s plan to restore primary, secondary healthcare

The government of Nigeria is pondering over to commence the implementation of a guideline soon to have all states registered for the basic healthcare provision fund, the Health Minister, Isaac Folorunso Adewole said.

Isaac Folorunso Adewole said to the Nigerian Senate on May 21 that the implementation would be sooner than expected when he appeared to speak on the plight of teaching hospitals across the country.

The basic health care provision fund is coming into place after its approval by the National Assembly in 2018. It is one percent of the Federal Government's consolidated revenue and contributions from grants created to fund the basic health needs of Nigerians.

The guideline for this fund, which is being developed by the Ministry of Health, will reduce dependency on tertiary healthcare centers, the official said. The scheme is structured in a way to ensure that only 10 percent of Nigerians visit tertiary health institutions which will only be expected to receive referrals and manage complicated cases, as reported by Xinhua.

The Health Minister clarified that the fund is structured in a way that money will flow from Central Bank of Nigeria to the primary healthcare facilities, bypassing all obstacles. "And last week, we succeeded in moving out funds from the Central Bank to the agencies and from the agencies, it will go to the primary healthcare," he said.

According to 65-year old Nigerian Minister, the scheme will allow for free ante-natal care, free delivery, malaria treatment, screening for tuberculosis, hypertension, and diabetes. So far, 22 out of the 36 states in Nigeria have subscribed to the scheme, with more coming on board, Xinhua noted.

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