The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has advised the Federal Government to expand its healthcare programmes to reach millions of Nigerians toward maximising impacts.
Dr Jeremie Zoungrana, BMGF Country Director, said this during a two-day Primary Health Care (PHC) Summit, organised by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) on Friday in Abuja.
The summit aims to motivate stakeholders to invest and implement a Primary Health Care revitalisation strategy for Nigeria.
Zoungrana said PHC programmes should go beyond targeting thousands of people, noting that marginal change would not work for Nigeria.
According to him, the country requires programmes that will leverage government resources to reach millions of people.
He said there was need to increase funding for PHC, noting that the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) would be transformational if effectively implemented.
Zoungrana said that accountability and transparency were paramount for optimal results in fund management.
“We commend the vision of the government of Nigeria to revitalise its PHC system which could not be timelier.
“This will ensure that Nigeria makes the desired progress towards providing quality health care that is accessible to Nigerians, and as a pathway to achieving UHC.
“It is great to see the prioritisation and comprehensive reform of the PHC system, given that 80 per cent of disease burden can be prevented and managed through a functional primary care system,” he said.
He noted that PHC revitalisation and reforms are continuous and iterative process that require periodic reviews, to stay in tune with population dynamics, economic realities and national aspirations.
Zoungrana reiterated the commitment of the foundation to support the government to achieve the vision of the PHC summit.
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He also restated the commitment of the foundation to the implementation of the Seattle Declaration and the PHC Challenge Fund to incentivise prioritisation, reform, and financing of PHC.
