The organised private sector has kicked off its initiative to adopt one primary health care centre in each of the 774 local government areas across the country.
This is part of efforts to ensure that Nigerians enjoy qualitative, accessible and affordable health care services, especially at the primary health care (PHC) level.
The private sector’s partnership with the government and other development partners will also ensure that the funding gap of about N1.4 trillion needed to deliver standardised PHC centres is realised.
Speaking during the PHC Summit yesterday in Abuja, the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, explained that out of N2.7 trillion needed to revamp PHC centres, the country had invested N1.3 trillion.
“Our plan to reimagine PHC is to improve PHC and mobilise resources by: improving access and service delivery through PHC revitalisation; working with religious and traditional leaders to stimulate demand for PHC services; delivering a programme that is efficient; and working with partners, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), development partners, states, among others, to achieve these.
“We have to bring our PHC centres up to speed. This does not mean we want to go ahead and construct additional PHC centres. We have a lot of underutilised PHC centres. We probably may not be constructing more than 100 PHC centres.
“What we need the most is to make sure that we have the human resources that will drive services in the PHC centres. A decent PHC centre should have human resources, portable water, electricity, accommodation, perimeter fencing for security, among others.
“To get to the right PHC standard, we have done the Arithmetic. It would require about N2.7 trillion (about $6.5 billion), over a 10-year period for operations and capital expenditures.
“However, there is already some N1.3 trillion that is already invested in the system, thanks to the investment by the government, private sector, donors, development partners, etc. What we now have is a gap of about N1.4 trillion ($3.4 billion).
“To get this fund, we will be leveraging a historic coalition of government, organised private sector, donors and development partners to secure the required resources. We can use domestic resources to close this gap; from the Federal, State and Local Government,” he said.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo hailed the country’s routine immunisation coverage, which is currently at 56 per cent, despite COVID-19.
This, the Vice President noted, has moved from 33 per cent in 2017 to 71 per cent in 2019.
He said: “A health challenge of sufficient enormity can cripple the global economy and severely worsen the circumstances of the weakest economies and most vulnerable groups.
“A health system is only as strong as its primary health system. No matter how robust we want a health system to be, it can only be as strong as our primary health system. This is true either in dealing with infected patients in a pandemic or effective vaccination programmes.”
“Because of the preventive focus of PHC, any investment in health care is a wise investment in the social and economic well-being of the society, since, invariably, fewer people will be ill and will not require the more expensive specialist care.”
Speaking on behalf of the organised private sector, a former Chief Executive of Access Bank and Chairman of Aig Imoukhuede Foundation, Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said: “The PHC is the country’s first line of defence. Current challenges in PHC centres require the government and private sector, philanthropists, etc, to rally to address. That is why the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PSHAN) decided that we will lead the private sector in addressing the PHC challenge.
“We came up with a programme to ensure that in all 774 local government areas, the private sector will take up the responsibility of delivering one world-class health facility in each local government and run it for five years.
“The private sector is fully aligned with the government and its agencies to bring health to the doorsteps of Nigerians, especially underserved communities.
“There is no local government that cannot boast of a Nigerian that can contribute to the financing of one PHC facility. PSHAN would ensure that we mobilise Nigerians to adopt a PHC facility in their LGAs.”