By Amina Ahmed
Mrs Rukaiya Ibrahim, the Officer in charge of Kofar Fada Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) in Katagum, Bauchi State,
has attributed an increase in uptake of services to the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and the health insurance scheme in the state.
She said this during an interactive session with journalists in Katagum Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The BHCPF is a federal and state funded initiative aimed at substantially increasing revenue and improving Primary Health Care (PHC) services to over 100 million Nigerians in rural and hard to reach areas, especially women and children of under five years.
The BHCPF is a component of the National Health Act of 2014, which called for better investment in the health sector, signed into the 2019 fiscal budget by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018.
It is designed as an earmarked fund to be financed from not less than one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of Federal Government and other sources, including donor contributions.
The officer, therefore, said that programmes being implemented under the BHCPF enhanced services, improved human resource and procurement of non-consumables.
Ibrahim said that the enrollment of 137 vulnerable members of the community into the Kofar Fada Primary Healthcare Centre had created increased demand for services.
She added that the Bauchi State Health Contributory Agency (BASHCMA) disbursed the monthly capitation of N78,090 for beneficiaries on the programme.
According to her, the PHC, in partnership with the ward development committee mobilises beneficiaries to access healthcare.
She noted that “on the average, 50 out of the 137 beneficiaries access services monthly in the PHC and whatever we save at the end of the month from the capitation; we use it to pay casual staff and procure non-consumables.
“We make minor repairs on the structure out of the money saved too.”
She called on the state government to expand the programme, adding that it would aid in improving the state’s health indices.
Dr Mansur Dada, the Executive Secretary, BASHCMA, said that the agency would enroll additional 5,814 vulnerable persons across the 323 wards in the state.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Amina Shehu, said that the programme had brought succor to the less privileged in the society by improving health status of communities.