The Nation Newspaper

Tag: National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).

  • Human resources, drugs, vaccines are critical – Adewole

    Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole has said that the issue of healthcare is beyond building facilities, saying the critical things that make up health system are human resources, commodities , drugs and vaccines.

    Adewole however noted that funding was critical to quality health system.

    The minister spoke recently at a medical conference and exhibition Organised by Media Trust in Abuja.

    To address the funding gap, the minister said  one of  the things that government has done to improve the country’s health  system is putting in place the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and appropriating N55 billion in the 2018 budget.

    He further noted that government targets improving primary healthcare services in the country and is putting measures in place so that for the first time, primary healthcare centres will get money  directly.

    According to him, 45% of the healthcare fund will be channelled  through the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), 20% to vaccine commodities  , 15 % for repairing facilities, water and electricity, and  10% for human resources.

    While enumerating the federal government’s achievements in repositioning cancer care and reducing maternal mortality among others, he said the Federal Ministry of Health under his watch was laying the foundation for an upgraded responsive healthcare delivery system.

    Read Also: Celebrating Adewole’s uncommon grace at 64

    “We are very confident that within the shortest possible time, we will begin to reap the fruits,” he added.

    Also, in his remark, the Former Minister of State for Health, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, advised healthcare workers to always give their best to patients in order to earn their trust and confidence to access treatment in the country.

    He stressed that  patients should be given quality from diagnosis , to treatment and should receive it  based on evidence.

    Pate who is also a Professor at the  Duke University’s Global Health Institute, United States of America, explained that trust was vital in the production of health and that users should have confidence that the system respects their rights.

    “There is need to engage the patients in the production of health. Health workers should not focus on themselves but on their clients,” he said.

    The former minister was of the opinion that when the patients experience competent care, it  would in turn lead to improved health outcomes, adding that it would also enable the populace to have confidence in the system and not travel out  for care.

    Chief  Operating Officer of Media Trust Limited , Abhay  Desai  said Nigeria has garnered quality facilities and medical personnel over the years that the citizenry can harness instead of  engaging in medical tourism.

    While saying that medical doctors in Nigeria are as good as anywhere else in the world , he said it was important for the country to celebrate its indigenous services and personnel.

    He said Media Trust organised the conference in collaboration with Prompt Health and other partners to create, a platform where stakeholders  could address the future of medical problems, issues in Nigeria and plan towards giving the country a 21stcentury healthcare service delivery.

    “To my understanding, what this means  is making health care available for all. Daily Trust is committed to making sure that we spread and let people know what is available in this country. We should start with Nigeria first and if required in worst cases, go to other places,” he added.

     

  • Measles: FG earmarks N3.5bn, target 33m under five children

    Measles: FG earmarks N3.5bn, target 33m under five children

    Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire has revealed that, the federal government has set aside N3.5 billion for measles vaccination of 33 million under five children across the country.

    The minister told journalists in Kaduna on Tuesday shortly after he demonstrated the vaccination at Miyetti Allah primary healthcare centre, Rigasa, Igabi local government area of Kaduna State that, N2.5 billion has already being released to ensure the success of the programme.

    Represented by the Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the minister said, the early release of N2.5 billion has enabled the ministry to make adequate preparation for the success of the vaccination between now and early 2018.

    According to him, “measles is one of the leading causes of death among young children especially those under five years of age. Despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines, Nigeria accounts for the highest burden of measles globally with 3.3 million unimmunized children.

    “This is due to persistently low routine immunization coverage and the fact that several measles supplemental immunization campaigns conducted to provide a second opportunity to reach unimmunized children has failed to achieve the required 95 percent coverage.

    “The federal ministry of health is however confident that, this 2017/2018 campaign will be different going by the high quality preparation and financial commitment by all levels of government.

    “The sum of N3.5 billion was earmarked for this measles vaccination campaign across the country. But N2.5 billion has been released to enable us adequately prepare for the exercise and that is a signal that, the exercise will be a huge success.

    “We are here in Kaduna flagging-off the campaign for the Northwest. For this zone, it will run between Thursday 9th and Wednesday 15th November while we have stagger campaign in the other zones between now and 2018″, he stressed.

    Declaring the exercise open earlier, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai said, 1,498,332 children in the state are expected to be vaccinated during the one week exercise.

    El-Rufai, who spoke through his deputy, Arch. Barnabas Bala Bantex reiterated the commitment of his administration towards provision of quality healthcare services to the people of the state as evident in prompt release of N38, 402,675 as counterpart funding from the state for the exercise.

    According to the governor, “we have released our counterpart funding to ensure each child is vaccinated so they can be prevented from preventable killer diseases.

    “Measles is highly contagious. It can kill children directly through weakening their immune system. Immunising our children remains one of the cost effective means of curbing under five mortality rate in our state and the country.

    “I want to use this medium to appeal to our people to join us in this campaign by avail their children for the exercise because it is a collective action towards survival of our children. The vaccines have been certified okay by WHO and NAFDAC which means, they are safe for the children”, he assured.

  • Meningitis vaccination is free – FG

    Meningitis vaccination is free – FG

    The Federal Government on Friday said vaccination for meningitis is free throughout the country and asked Nigerians not to pay for it.

    The Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said this in a statement made available to newsmen on Friday in Abuja.

    Shuaib therefore advised Nigerians to report any health centre or health worker who extorts money for the on-going meningitis immunisation to the nearest law enforcement agency.

    He said the attention of the agency had been drawn to a report of sharp practices by some health workers and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) extorting money unsuspecting and desperate citizens.

    He added that some health workers were alleged to have extorted money and other forms of incentives from members of the public before being vaccinated against Cerebro Spinal Meningitis (CSM).

    Shuaib said that the vaccination against CSM, like other vaccination in the National Immunization schedule, is free by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

    “The Federal Government had spent billions of Naira to procure, store, maintain and distribute such vaccines to all parts of the country.

    “Under no circumstances should any health worker demand for money from members of the public for such services,’’ he warned.

    According to him, the vaccines’ preventable diseases are covered free-of-charge under the National Immunisation schedule which includes Bacillus Calmette Guerin – (BCG), Poliomyelitis and Hepatitis B.

    Others are Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus toxoid -(Pentavelent vaccines), Haemophilus influenza type B, Pneumococcal vaccines, Inactivated Polio virus vaccines, Measles, Yellow Fever and of course, Meningitis vaccines.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that sequence to the outbreak of meningitis in some parts of the country, the federal government had made available 500,000 doses of meningitis vaccines.

    The government is still expecting the delivery of additional 823,000 doses to curtail the outbreak.

    NAN also reports that residents of Kubwa, FCT-Abuja, have alleged that they were being charged N500 by vaccinators per person before receiving the CSM vaccine.

    Some residents who spoke to NAN said that they did not understand the rationale behind the fee, when the federal government had announced that the immunisation was free.

  • Agency assures donors of transparency, accountability

    The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) has assured donors of improved transparency and accountability in delivering primary healthcare services in Nigeria.

    The Executive Director, NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, made this known while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Friday.

    The NPHCDA boss said he has been working to reposition the agency to imbibe the culture of transparency, accountability, performance management and value for money.

    He said the priority of the agency was to create a system that makes people more comfortable to donate more money to the agency to reverse the country’s maternal and newborn child mortality index.

    According to him, in the last few years, there has been a cloud of mistrust, lack of credibility over the agency.

    “We see it as a priority to dispel this cloud; we want to re-establish the agency as a bold and innovative organisation that will provide leadership that harness PHC system in Nigeria.

    “While moving forward to achieve our mandate, we are going to work our talk, honour our commitment and we will ensure that we do business with integrity and probity.

    “We will ensure that the funds are utilised judiciously. We call on the partners to join the new leadership and match the ideas of the agency in changing the narrative,’’ he said.

    The Federal Government on February 16 signed a 70 million Euro grant agreement with the European Union to improve access to effective healthcare, nutrition and push for polio eradication programmes.

    The grant will strengthen 774 PHCs and it will contribute to the revitalisation of the 774 PHCs; promote maternal and newborn health in Adamawa, Kebbi and Bauchi states.

    NAN also reports that the grants’ benefitting states are Adamawa, Bauchi, Kebbi, Sokoto and Anambra.

    The grant would be implemented by the NPHCDA, WHO, UNICEF and state ministries of health of the benefiting states.

  • Buhari appoints Shuaib head of NPHCDA

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved the appointment of Dr. Faisal Shuaib as the Executive Secretary of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA).

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu said that Dr. Shuaib is a medical doctor and public health specialist and currently a Senior Program Officer (Africa) for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) at Seattle, USA.

    He said: “At the BMGF, Dr. Shuaib is responsible for developing and implementing strategies on polio outbreak response activities in Africa. Prior to joining the foundation, Dr. Shuaib coordinated Nigeria’s successful response to the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) as the Incident Manager of the Ebola Emergency Operations Centre in 2014.

    “He was also a member of the six-man panel established to assess the response of the World Health Organization (WHO) to the global Ebola outbreak in 2014 and provided technical advice to the Federal Ministry of Health and NPHCDA in areas of immunization and polio eradication activities between 2012 and 2015.

    “Dr. Shuaib had in the past also worked as a research associate at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.” he said.