National Assembly to allocate 1% CRF to Primary Healthcare

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The National Assembly will ensure that one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) is set aside in the 2018 budget to boost the provision of basic primary healthcare services across the country, Senate President Bukola Saraki has said.
He said this at the 58th Annual General & Scientific Conference of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) on Thursday, in Abuja. He said the funds would enable the federal government provide and fund quality and basic healthcare services for the benefit of Nigerians.
According to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, Mr Saraki said Primary and Universal Health Care provision is a key legislative agenda for the 8th Senate.
He recalled how he launched the Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage in July last year and also urged the federal government to honour the Abuja Declaration (2001).
He also urged full implementation of the National Health Act 2014, which he said he helped formulate during the 7th Senate.
“The Senate has, with the cooperation of the House of Representatives, resolved to mandate our Committees on Appropriations to ensure that the pledge to set aside one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) is met.
“This would be the underpinning for a legislative framework for the BHCPF and revitalization of primary health care delivery across the nation. It will happen, and it is imminent.
“Once this one per cent is put into law, we as legislators will embark on the next stage, which will be to ensure that we get value for money, for transparency in the use of the funds,” he said.
Mr Saraki decried a situation where Nigeria ranks among-st the top countries where nationals visit international shores for medical treatment.
He said the country loses over $1 billion annually to medical tourism ”which is untenable and unsustainable”.
“Some countries even go to great lengths to streamline certain aspects of their health policies specifically for Nigerians,” Mr Saraki said. “It is a damning indictment of what we have not been able to provide for our own citizens in this country, such that a great many feel they have to go elsewhere, at great cost to the individual and collective purse.”
He expressed optimism that Nigeria’s upward review in the Ease of Doing Business index, coupled with the right government support, Public Private Partnership (PPP), would yield positive results.
The lawmaker also called for the reversal of the gradual loss of Nigerian doctors and ”brightest brains” to foreign medical institutions.
“This drain in medical expertise is plain to see, and should be a major concern for all of us. In acknowledging the feats and strides of our citizens in the diaspora, we must also recognize the need to build, harness and sustain local content.
“We cannot achieve our collective goals as a people without developing this country to the point where we are self-sufficient,” he said


Culled from  www.premiumtimesng.com

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