FCTA Needs $22bn To Revive Primary Healthcare Services

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Health and Human Service Secretariat (HHSS) requires about $22 billion to reposition and close the funding gap in primary healthcare (PHC) services in the nation’s capital.

Of this figure, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has supported the initiative with $14 billion.

The FCTA said this becomes imperative as the health facilities targeted to serve about 1. 5 to 2million people are overstretched to serve over six million Abuja residents.

To this end, the HHSS in collaboration with international partners came up with a system where philanthropists and public-spirited individuals can help to revitalise PHC through their financial support.

The secretary of Health and Human Services Secretariat, Dr Abubakar Tafida, gave this hint during a press briefing to herald the new funding system of PHC in the nation’s capital.

Tafida explained that the administration has revitalised about 83 of the Primary Health Care Centres, and that they have 154 functional PHCs in FCT with at least 83 in minimum operations.

He said that they procured $2.4 million drugs and consumables for them, saying that there has been a lot of intervention in FCT, and there is also the Basic Healthcare Province Fund component.

“This means one ward, one PHC and we have 62 wards in the six area councils. We are currently developing new structures in Primary Health Care Centres to ensure that the services provided are standard.

“We are soliciting support from various organisations and international partners and individuals to come and look at the status of the PHC and revitalize them, we are not asking for money. You can choose one, or ten and support it.

“We want to drill a borehole so that there can be water for women and children to use. But the truth is that there has been so much investment in the health sector especially in the FCT as recently as providing drugs and consumables $4 million, going forward we need to look at the status of these primary health centres,” he said.