Agency The Federal Government has approved the sum of N12,911bn to be disbursed through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund. The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, disclosed this at the 7th meeting of the BHCPF Ministerial Oversight Committee in Abuja.
According to him, the amount represents the 2023 fund for one quarter, to be utilised in the third quarter of 2024. This, he noted, is according to the 2020 BHCPF guideline, pending the review of the new guideline. In March 2024, the Nigerian government authorised the disbursement of N25 billion through the BHCPF across the states of the federation The allocated funds were earmarked for direct facility financing and workforce incentives across states.
Available data from the BHCPF and the Africa Health Budget Network shows that from 2019 to 2022, funds disbursed through BHCPF summed up to an estimated N89 billion. Only 7,250 out of the 35,514 Primary Healthcare Centres in the country are currently benefiting from the BHCPF, according to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. Pate explained that in line with Nigeria’s Health Sector Renewal Initiative and President Bola Tinubu’s approval for a Sector-Wide Approach, urgent comprehensive reforms were being undertaken to improve BHCPF.
He said, “A sub-committee set up by the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare during the 5th Ministerial Oversight Committee meeting in late 2023, is leading these reforms. �.