President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime says Nigeria will need N1 trillion to cater for the health of the vulnerable citizens across the country.

This would be done through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).

Chris Isokpunwu, secretary of the Ministerial Oversight committee for BHCPF of the federal ministry of health, disclosed this in Abuja at the Nigeria Health Commissioners’ Forum.

Mr Isokpunwu said the money would enable the country to provide Universal Health Coverage (UHC) to vulnerable citizens. He said the BHCF allocation was based on equity, equality, and the indigent community, adding that it was also allocated based on the poverty index of each state.

According to him, there is a need to demonstrate transparency, accountability, and results to get more funding.

He said in doing so, the BHCPF account was being audited and the disbursement of all funds published.

Christoph Kurowski, Global Lead of Health Financing, World Bank Group, Nigeria, recalled that the journey of Primary Health Care (PHC) financing in the country started more than 40 years ago.

Mr Kurowski said that for many high-income countries, the vision is for 80 per cent of the population’s healthcare needs to be met at the primary healthcare level.

“Part of the challenge for most PHC financing is the knowledge gap, which could be knowing what to do and how to do it. It is critical to understand health financing, community environment, and how to tackle these issues in public health,” he said.

The U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Country Director, Mary Boyd, called for a mechanism to assess communities’ health needs and ensure that people going to PHC received quality and equitable services.

(NAN)