The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says one of the significant challenges for the primary healthcare system in Nigeria is inequity.

The Representative of UNICEF Nigeria Chief of Health, Eduardo Celades Blanco, said this on Wednesday in Abuja at the Nigeria Health Commissioners’ forum.

Mr Blanco said the country had been unable to bridge the disparities between the North and South, poor and rich, hence the inequity.

He said there was a need to increase the allocation of resources to the country’s overall health budget.

Mr Blanco said this is possible by increasing the proportion of the government general expenditure to at least 10 per cent by 2025 and 12 per cent by2030 to fast-track the achievement of SDG3.

He, however, said the poor performance of the country’s PHC system could not be explained by inadequate investments.

“It is more of a question of efficiency and sustainability of efforts over time; hence there is a sense of urgency,” he stated.

He stressed the need for more value for money, leveraging strategic purchasing to increase both programmatic and cost efficiency, to rebuild trust for more investments in health.

Mr Blanco said the country needed to strengthen the public financial management system to address inefficiencies.

He said this could be achieved by maximising spending levels within budgets and focusing on increased spending at LGA and/or facility levels for improving PHC services.

Meanwhile, he said that UNICEF would continue to support governments at all levels to improve PHC financing, performance and outcomes through some initiatives.

The executive secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Mohammed Sambo, said if the nation had a functional primary healthcare system, 70 per cent of its health needs would be met.

On his part, Olumide Okunola, senior health specialist, Health, Nutrition & Population, World Bank Group, said before the COVID-19 pandemic, Nigeria’s health spending was among the lowest in the world, compared to other contemporaries.

(NAN)