UN, World Bank, other global partners to spend 4 billion dollars on Nigerian healthcare.
By Tada Jutha, Maiduguri
The World Bank, the United Nations (UN), and the Global Forum for Vaccine Sovereignty and Innovation (GAVI) have earmarked $4 billion (N5.6 trillion) to improve healthcare delivery services in the country.
UNICEF Health Manager, Dr. Clement Adams, disclosed this during the North-East States Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) road show meeting held in Maiduguri, Borno State, over the weekend.
He said that the interventions are to strengthen the health systems of the 36 states in the federation, including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Dr. Adams said that SWAP was to ensure improvements in health outcomes by supporting the states and the Federal Ministry of Health (MoH).
Besides the health funding interventions, he added that the global agency will be providing technical and financial assistance throughout the process.
“We’re sponsoring the coordination of the SWAp approach country-wide to reduce maternal and child mortalities in communities in the Northeast,” he said.
Also speaking at the meeting, Dr. Angus Ikpe, the Head of Office and Planning in the Federal Ministry of Health, said that there are 13 SWAp priority initiatives in the health sector.
He said that they included 18 objectives with four pillars to improve healthcare delivery services in each of the six geopolitical zones.
On the state of primary healthcare centres (PHCs), Ikpe said: “President Bola Tinubu has mandated the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to increase the number of health centres to 17,618 in the country.”
Ikpe, however, warned that none of the 13 priorities should be omitted while implementing the various projects in the health sector.
The Borno State World Health Organisation (WHO) Coordinator, Dr. Ibrahim Salisu, also said: “The initiative is a strategic blueprint that sets to drive the implementation of a domesticated, context-sensitive SWAp,” stating that it’s an innovative, holistic, and coordinated strategy for improving health outcomes in the Northeast.
The coordinator noted that this is a deviation from the norm but is built on the existing structure and the available enabling environment.
According to him, SWAp is a ‘business unusual’ and will help promote stewardship, improve governance, and facilitate resource convergence to address our health challenges.
He added that because of the fragmentation, inefficiencies, and poor governance of the health sector, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare at the 64th Council on Health, held in Ekiti State, unveiled the country’s health sector renewal initiatives.
Salisu, therefore, congratulated the six commissioners for health for establishing the Northeast commissioners for the health forum and convening its first meeting in January 2024 to discuss critical health issues affecting the region.
They include the ones on high maternal and neonatal mortalities, malaria, and the poor state of infrastructure in the health sector.
