Health
FG injects ₦32.88bn into primary healthcare to improve service delivery
Janet Ogundepo
The Federal Government has approved the disbursement of N32.8 billion to states under the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund to sustain ongoing interventions in primary healthcare, emergency medical services, health insurance and disease preparedness.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof Muhammad Pate, announced the approval while briefing journalists after the quarterly meeting of the Expanded Ministerial Oversight Committee, which was convened to review progress, address implementation challenges, and outline the next phase of the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative.
The Expanded Ministerial Oversight Committee comprises Federal Government health agencies, State Commissioners for Health, State Primary Health Care Development Agencies, development partners, civil society organisations, and other relevant ministries and stakeholders.
In a statement signed by the Assistant Director of Information and Public Relations, Ado Bako, the minister said the committee approved the fund to support ongoing health sector reforms under the Sector-Wide Approach.
Pate said the FG had made significant progress in implementing the NHSRII since its launch by President Bola Tinubu in December 2023.
He disclosed that although N339 billion had been disbursed through the BHCPF over the past 12 years, N235 billion was released within the last three years, describing it as a demonstration of the administration’s commitment to strengthening primary healthcare.
PUNCH Healthwise reports that the BHCPF was established under Section 11 of the National Health Act 2014 to strengthen health systems at the grassroots level and protect vulnerable populations.
The fund is financed through at least 1% of the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund and supports primary healthcare services, health insurance for vulnerable groups, disease surveillance, and emergency medical treatment.
PUNCH Healthwise previously reported several BHCPF disbursements, including N101bn released to more than 7,600 primary healthcare facilities in 2022, N25.8bn approved for PHC upgrades in 2024, and N32.9bn approved in 2025 to strengthen primary healthcare services.
In an earlier report, Pate urged communities to monitor the fund usage and tasked the ICPC to track the utilisation and ensure stronger accountability measures.
Continuing, the minister said more than 8,000 primary healthcare centres across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory now receive quarterly direct facility financing for essential healthcare services, medicines, health insurance for vulnerable groups, emergency medical services and disease outbreak preparedness.
“He added that over 130,000 Nigerians had benefited from emergency medical services financed through the BHCPF, noting that 35 states had established emergency medical service structures, while Benue and Imo states currently rely on Federal Government health institutions for service delivery,” the statement noted.
On disease preparedness, Pate said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention had continued supporting states to strengthen disease surveillance, laboratory capacity, outbreak detection and emergency preparedness for cholera, Lassa fever, viral meningitis and other infectious diseases.
He also disclosed that the Federal Government recently approved additional BHCPF resources for all states to strengthen preparedness against Ebola Virus Disease following outbreaks within the African region.
Speaking on primary healthcare revitalisation, the minister said more than 3,000 primary healthcare centres had been upgraded to Level Two status, while nearly 1,000 additional facilities were undergoing revitalisation.
He added that assessment was ongoing to expand the Direct Facility Financing programme from more than 8,000 facilities to 17,600 primary healthcare centres using an equity-based funding formula that considers population size and disease burden.
Pate noted that about 40 per cent of Federal Government funding under the BHCPF was being used for essential medicines and health commodities.
He commended states providing counterpart funding and urged all state and local governments to fulfil their statutory contributions of 25 per cent and 15 per cent respectively to strengthen primary healthcare financing.
The minister also said preliminary findings from the 2026 Mini Demographic and Health Survey showed improvements in antenatal care attendance, skilled birth attendance, contraceptive prevalence, childhood immunisation, child healthcare services and HIV interventions.
He stated that the findings indicate that ongoing reforms are beginning to translate into measurable improvements in population health outcomes.
Pate further disclosed that health insurance enrolment had increased by over six million people in the last three years, bringing total enrolment from about 16 million to more than 22 million Nigerians.
On maternal and child health, he said over 48,000 women had received free comprehensive emergency obstetric care, including Caesarean sections, under the Federal Government’s maternal health intervention programme.
He added that more than 4,700 women had undergone free Vesico Vaginal Fistula repair surgeries across 207 healthcare facilities, while over 2,900 newborns had benefited from neonatal healthcare interventions.
The minister also said more than 40,000 Nigerians had been enrolled in health insurance through a pilot programme jointly implemented by the National Health Insurance Authority and the Global Fund to improve financial protection for vulnerable populations.
Despite the reported gains, Pate acknowledged persistent challenges, particularly the migration of healthcare workers from primary healthcare facilities to higher-level hospitals, especially in the South-East, South-South and South-West.
He urged state governments to prioritise adequate staffing of primary healthcare centres, stressing that primary healthcare remains the foundation of Nigeria’s health system and is primarily the responsibility of state and local governments.
Pate reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to working with state governments, development partners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage and improved health outcomes.
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