By Agi Onda
Abuja
The National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) says the agency 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.
Executive Director/CEO of NPHCDA, Dr Faisal Shuaib, made the pledge Tuesday while interacting with journalists on “Overview of NPHCDA’s Activities (2017 – 2020)” in Abuja.
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.
According to Dr Shuaib, with 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 there was need for his agency to continue “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.
“We will make NPHCDA visible, credible, accountable and reliable partner to all our stakeholders, and we will revamp the financial system,” he said.
He disclosed that the N13.2billion 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 (FCT) Abuja.
Dr Shuaib, however, said of all the 36 states and FCT Abuja that received the funds, only Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Niger, Osun and FCT had commenced disbursement to primary health centres.
He said 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 said 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.
“We have made progress on vaccine supply chain and begun move the needle on RI in a positive direction surpassing historical trends,” he said.
Dr Faisal Shuaib was appointed ED/CEO of NPHCDA on January 11, 2017 for a four-year renewable tenure by President Muhammadu Buhari.
On assumption of office, 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.
