ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi
Governor Bala Mohammed has said Bauchi state government will seek for N300 million as counterpart funding from Development Partners on Primary Healthcare Programme.
He said this in an interview with journalists shortly after a teleconference of the 2020 Mid-Year Review Meeting with Development Partners on Primary Healthcare Program held at Emergency Operations Centre, Bauchi.
He said that the state could not give its own part of the funding because of paucity of funds and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have been told that we are lacking in some few areas, the release of the required amount, about N300 million that we have not released in the basket because they have released their own.
“Over the years, they have been releasing it timely and we have couldn’t do it because of COVID-19 and other challenges of Internally Generally Revenue (IGR).
“We told them that we have already made a more comprehensive arrangement to get some money from the bank to pay them immediately so that at the end of the day, we will be able to achieve the milestone that we have set out to do.
“Am happy that we have scored 70% and where we have not scored, it is the government of Bauchi state and myself and of course, the local government areas,” he said.
Speaking earlier during the teleconference, the Governor reassured stakeholders in the Health sector of his administration’s commitment to sustain adequate healthcare budget allocation with timely release of the funds allocated.
He said his administration will work assiduously towards improving timeliness and adequacy of budget release in order to meet the minimum service package (MSP) implementation target.
He added that his administration is committed to ensuring availability of essential health care services to its populace and building a resilient Primary Health Care system especially in light of the current health realities.
According to him, despite the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the state government has managed to put some token amount in to the MoU basket with the hope of dropping the remaining amount by the end of September, 2020.
Mohammed said: “This is the fourth review under the Integrated Primary Health Care Memorandum of Understanding and we are delighted with the efforts to sustain service availability despite in these unprecedented times.”
On Human Resource for Health, the Governor who acknowledged the gap in the health workforce, said his administration will recruit frontline health care workers to address the inadeqaucies.
He said the administration is aware of the commitments made in Seattle in November 2019 as it is currently working to ensure full implementation of the outstanding resolutions; including filling the outstanding gaps identified from the PHC Under One Roof scorecard assessment and optimizing funding and oversight on the healthcare system.
The Governor appreciated the continued support of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Aliko Dangote Foundation (ADF), USAID, UNICEF and other partners implementing Primary Healthcare program in Bauchi State.
“We appreciate all our development partners, our traditional leaders, religious leaders and our hardworking health team for the tireless efforts you continually put in, to strengthening our health system and improving the health of our citizenry, especially on the fight and successful eradication of Polio in the State, the Nation and African region at large.”
He noted with delight, the continued commitment of traditional and religious institutions in supporting the implementation of the PHC program as well as the efforts instituted to promote demand for essential services and awareness on COVID-19.
“I congratulate each and every one of us in our efforts in achieving some of our agreed milestones despite the COVID-19 pandemic which has impacted the availability and demand for essential PHC services Bauchi.
“The pandemic has led to a decline in the state IGR and urgent need to repurpose available funds for the COVID-19 response which contributed to the untimely release of the state 2020 PHC counterpart funds,” he said.
The Chairman, Aiko Dangote Foundation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, commended the Bauchi State Government for strengthening Primary Healthcare delivery in the state through various community initiatives.
Dangote appealed to the Governor to ensure timely release of Primary Healthcare budget for effective delivery of essential services to the citizens.
Also speaking, Bill Gates, who congratulated the state on the milestone in polio eradication called for its sustenance by coming up with sustainable policies and projects.
In his contribution, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire appreciated the efforts of Governor Bala Mohammed towards improving primary healthcare delivery and the management of COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister enjoined the state government to fast track the implementation of all policies and programmes in the health sector for effective service delivery.
Others who spoke are representatives of USAID, UNICEF, Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Chairman Emirates’ Council on Health and State Commissioner for Health.
Leave a Reply