The Federal Ministry of Health, says Borno and Akwa Ibom states are yet to make any commitment towards accessing the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
Dr Emmanuel Meribole, the Director of Planning, Research & Statistics, Federal Ministry of Health said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Tuesday in Abuja.
NAN reports that the BHCPF is one per cent of Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) for healthcare services in line with the National Health Act 2014.
International partners such as the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and USAID are also contributing to the Fund. The Brand name for this Programme is “HUWE” meaning life.
Meribole said that since the rollout of BHCPF by President Muhammadu Buhari on Jan. 8, only 34 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had shown commitment toward the programme.
He disclosed that implementation had progressed steadily over the past six months.
According to him, out of the 33 states and the FCT, only 21 have made their financial contributions of N100 million each to support implementation of BHCPF in their states.
The director said that only 24 states and the FCT had opened sub accounts of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) for their agencies at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) presently.
Meribole said that out of the 33 states and the FCT, 20 had concluded all processes required to access their accounts.
He said that 22 states cumulatively had received funds from either the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), or National Health Insurance Scheme, (NHIS).
Speaking on facility assessment, he said that the ministry, NPHCDA and NHIS had conducted facility assessment in 15 states.
According to him, from the results of the assessments from the baselines, quality improvement will be subsequently measured on an annual basis for the programme.
The director said that on capacity building, the ministry, NPHCDA and NHIS had also worked with the states to conduct implementation training in 12 states.
According to him, these states have also replicated the trainings down to their facilities.
Speaking further, he explained that the BHCPE was established by the National Health Act as a body to provide a basic minimum health package for all Nigerians.
“To ensure attainment of the goals and objectives of the fund, a governance and administration mechanism shall be established at the national, state and facility level.
“There are three hierarchies of governance for BHCPF: the National has the National Council on Health and National Steering committee. The State also has the state steering committee, while the Facility has the Local Government Health Authorities and the Ward Development Committees,” he said. (NAN)