Senior Technical Advisor for Development Research and Project Center (DRPC), Emanuel Adebayo Abanida, has called on the federal government to ensure the release of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) which has not been made available despite its inclusion in the 2018 budget.
Abanida made the call during a one-day strategy session on advocacy for implementation of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) of the National Health Act, NHA which was organized by the DFID Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (DFID-PERL) in Abuja.
Abanida said provision for the money has been included in the 2018 budget but has not been released even though the year will end very soon.
He maintained that if the money is not released, it would not be considered as a priority in 2019.
Condemning the delay in the disbursement of the fund, Abanida said: “there are so many theories and reasons to why this money has not been released, but I think the political will to make sure that it happens can be stronger than this. If it is stronger the money would be released.”
He further lamented the negligence of the health sector and health issue in the country which has continued to contribute to the degeneration of the sector.
“The way we take health in Nigeria is not a priority, we consider Security Power, and Food security as a priority but we need to be healthy to be able to provide other things that need to be done.”
Abanida further pleaded to Nigeria media to play its role by increasing its advocacy for the urgent release of the fund as a way to boost the health sector.
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