The Federal Government of Nigeria says it had paid out N86 billion for the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHFP) earlier in June.
Chris Isokpunwu, secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, revealed this on Monday at a ministerial media conference on the developments in the health sector. The secretary said about N56 billion out of the amount budgeted has so far been disbursed to the states.
The fund which was established in 2019, was intended to boost public health facilities in the country. According to Mr Isokpunwu, more than 7,000 primary health care centres are funded on a quarterly basis to provide them with essential medicines, transportation for vaccines, and other medical products in the health sector.
“It is also provided for human resources for health, and more than 1500 midwives have been engaged with the fund. It is also used to maintain the building and infrastructure and equipment in the PHCs,” the secretary said.
Mr Isokpunwu further added that the fund carries a comprehensive package of preventive, curative, and rehabilitative provisions including education for the prevention of diseases and the promotion of healthcare for Nigerians.
“As of today, 1,040 million poor and indigent Nigerians have been enrolled to have access to a basic minimum package of health services. This means that these people that have been enrolled in 35 out of the 36 states and the FCT now have access to free medical treatment for common ailments and even surgeries, taking care of a broad spectrum of health conditions that Nigerians may and will be exposed to,” Mr Isokpunwu said.
He also stated that the fund was not enough, therefore it was limited to poor Nigerians that are unable to afford medical care, adding that this would pull them out of poverty and contribute to the federal government’s goal of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years.
He concluded by stating that another goal of the project is to guarantee Nigerians medical care in the event of an emergency, and payment for poor people who are unable to pay for the treatment.
“Any Nigerian that has an emergency will be treated without the question of who will pay,” the secretary said.
