The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) has disclosed that the Health Sector Next Level Agenda will boost primary healthcare in Nigeria and also catch up with healthcare-related gaps by as much as 60% through the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This was disclosed by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire at the Ministerial Health Sector Media Engagement on the Path to Universal Health Coverage (UHC), on Monday in Abuja.
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The Health Minister disclosed that the Next Level Agenda will revitalize Primary healthcare, citing Nigeria had only one third of the required 9,855 PHCs.
“The Next Level Agenda strategy aims to revitalize one Primary Health Care (PHC) centres in each political ward,” he said.
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“We have barely one third of the required 9,855 PHCs, which define UHC, to bring health closer to the people and begin to address Nigeria’s appalling health indices.
“National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) has scored high in the polio eradication push and was able to raise immunization coverage from 42 per cent in 2014 to 67 per cent in 2019,” he added.
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He also said that Covid-19 gave Nigeria Nigeria the opportunity to reexamine its approach towards healthcare and rebuild health systems from the grassroots.
“All countries will no doubt be re-examining their Health systems, which is why it has been said that the COVID-19 outbreak offers an opportunity to restructure, or even rebuild health systems.
“We have The NPHCDA, Policy documents “PHCUOR Implementation Guideline”, Training manuals for PHC Health workers and Interventions/coordinating platforms,” he explained.
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What you should know about the Nigerian health sector
The effects of the pandemic have seen a refocus on tackling healthcare in Nigeria by the Health Ministry this year alone. The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) announced last week it plans to reduce case fatalities of the Covid-19 pandemic by focusing on improving the capability to manage the virus.
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The Health Minister last week also launched a series of healthcare-related strategy policies last week, which are:
- Revised National Health Promotion Policy (2019).
- The National Strategic Plan for Health Promotion 2020-2024.
- The Counseling Flip Chart on Key Household Practices.
- The Knowledge Management Guideline for Health Promotion 2020-2024.
- The Counseling Flip Chart on Family Planning/Child Birth Spacing.
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