Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Federal government has confirmed that Osun State will, in the next nine months, benefit from health care services worth N916m of the recently-launched Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).
The financial benefit is said to be equivalent to payment for management of 270,000 women with normal delivery, 763,000 under 5-childhood illnesses or 572,000 cases of malaria.
BHCPF was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari, in January, to provide direct response to issues of high inequalities in access to quality primary health care services, and also eliminate out-of-pocket expenses for primary health care services.
It is funded through a certain percentage of the consolidated revenue fund of the federation as stipulated in the National Health Act, 2014. It also allows funding from donor organisations and other sources.
Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who launched the project in Osogbo, Osun State capital, on Friday, explained that the fund would target one primary health care centre, per ward, as identified by states, based on defined criteria with operational budgets to enable the facilities to improve service delivery.
He said the government would reimburse private facilities that delivered specified services which included ante-natal care, childbirth including Cesarean sections, family planning, treatment of childhood under five illnesses, malaria treatment for all and screening for non-communicable disease.
Osun State governor, Gboyega Oyetola, who did the first enrolment at Primary Health Care Centre, Isale Agbara, Osogbo, was optimistic that the project would herald an improved access to basic health care services.
He told the beneficiaries that the Federal government had paid for the services, and they should freely and confidently visit the primary health care facilities and demand better and quality health care services.
Meanwhile, the BHCPF desk officer in Federal Ministry of Health, Oyebanji Filani, has confirmed that government had established a strong monitoring system, that would ensure that better and quality services were given to patients.
He also said that undercover agents had been recruited to periodically monitor the activities of the PHCs to ensure that they didn’t violate the rule of engagement.