The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency says it will leverage on the feat recorded with the eradication of wild polio virus in Nigeria to strengthen primary healthcare delivery services in the country on a sustainable basis.
This was made known by the Executive Director/CEO of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib while speaking to newsmen on the: “Overview of NPHCDA’s Activities from 2017-2020.”
According to the Executive Eirector, the agency recorded an unprecedented feat for the country on August 25, 2020 when Nigeria was certified wild polio-free after almost three decades’ journey.
Shuaib said twith the polio-free certification, the attention of the NPHCDA is now shifted to adapting lessons learnt from the initiatives used by injecting the experiences and resources to sustainably strengthen the primary healthcare delivery services.
He said: “To engage on developing a pragmatic PHC delivery model to ensure coverage for the poor and vulnerable and reduce maternal and child deaths. This the agency will achieve by strengthening governance and accountability.”
On the NPHCDA’s immunisation drive, Dr. Shuaib said the agency hoped to attain 80 per cent immunisation rates by 2028.
He said: “We will make NPHCDA visible, credible, accountable and reliable partner to all our stakeholders, and we will revamp the financial system.”
He disclosed that the N13.2 billion received by its gateway of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund has been disbursed to the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja.
However, Shuaib said of all the 36 states and FCT that received the funds, only Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Niger and Osun State and FCT had commenced disbursement to primary health centres.
He stated in driving the Universal Health Coverage, NPHCDA would focus on attaining the set target of 10,000 fully equipped and functional primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria, and ensuring the resilience of the PHC system while leveraging on the Basic Health facility.
He noted that there will be increased efforts to expand the availability of skilled birth attendants to help ensure drastic reduction in the rate of maternal mortality in the country.
He said: “We have made progress on vaccine supply chain and begun move the needle on RI in a positive direction surpassing historical trends.”
Shuaib was appointed ED/CEO of NPHCDA on January 11, 2017 for a four-year renewable tenure by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The tenure was last week renewed via a letter by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
Upon his resumption, the agency set out four cardinal visions: to build a robust agency that will deliver tangible results to improve primary healthcare in Nigeria.
The achievements, successes, lessons learned and challenges over the last four years provided the levers for Nigeria’s certification as polio-free on August 25 this year.