By Lizzy Carr
The House of Representatives Committee on Health on oversight to Bauchi where members looked at funds releases , utilisation and level of commitment to the implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) program in the state.
During the visit led by the chairman of the Committee Dr .Amos Gwamma Magaji said the purpose is to ascertain and inspect states with high zero-dose children and their contributions toward counterpart funding.
Discussions between the Committee and the Bauchi State Primary Health Care Board focused on the status of BHCPF implementation in the state, along with apparent challenges that include reduction of Bauchi state Primary Health Care facilities from 323 State wards to 212 health facilities per ward as recognized by the Federal government,inadequate remuneration of Community Health Influencers and Promoters (CHIPs) agents and non- or irregular fund disbursement.
Other areas are low number of skilled birth attendants approved in the BHCPF program, irregular supply of commodities to CHIPs agents, delay in approval of work plans and the non-release of ₦3 billion BHCPF funds for 2025 to the SPHCDB.
The Committee also discussed issues on stockouts of vaccines from the national cold chain system, which stakeholders largely attributed to posing health concerns across the entire country.
While in the state the committee visited the Urban Maternity Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC) in Bauchi, where members interacted with health care providers and other staff.
The BHCPF is a national initiative designed to support primary health care services at the grassroots level by allocating 1% of the total IGR annually, with monthly disbursements to states through NPHCDA and NHIA gateways for improved healthcare services.
This covers different domains of services across human resources for health (HRH), health insurance, facility management, and services.
Executive Chairman Bauchi State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed said that since the commencement of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), the program has approved only 120 health workers and the challenges of inadequate human resources for health is still lingering.
He pointed out that universal health coverage can be achieved if proper planning is made at all levels and states should be adequately consulted as they understand the dynamics of their communities.
The chairman expressed concern that reducing the number of facilities from 323 to 212 will hinder services looking at high-volume facilities in remote areas have not been given the needed attention .
“Most of them have been abandoned by the actions to revert back to federal wards which will be 212 instead of 323”
Dr. Mohammed then informed the committee that Bauchi State has paid the complete PHC-MoU contributions as agreed in the approved addendum, and this signifies the end of the 10-year Memorandum of Understanding between the Gates and Aliko Dangote foundations.
He explained that in the effort to improve the quality of care through MPCDSR (Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response) and prevent maternal and child deaths, strengthening primary health care should be a collective responsibility.
The accountability framework must continue to be strengthened across facilities managing BHCPF finances.
