Health
CSOs Want FG To Release N55.15bn BHCP Fund
Civil Society Organisations have called for the timely release of the N55.15 billion Basic Health Care Provision as statutory transfer, to scale-up key health interventions to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
The group made the appeal at the end of the training organised for journalists by United States Agency for International Development – Health Finance Governance (USAID -HFG) project.
The training was in collaboration with Legislative Network for Universal Health Coverage (LNUHC) and International Society of Media in Public Health (ISMPH) held in Auta-Balefi near Keffi in Nasarawa State.
Senior Health Finance Advisor, USAID-HFG project, Dr Sylvester Akande, said the National Health Act 2014 provides for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) as statutory transfer.
Akande explained that the 2018 approved budget captures BHCPF as capital expenditure not as statutory transfer as provided by the National Health Act.
The Chief of Party of USAID- HFG, Dr Gafar Alawode, said public financing of the health sector was important, if universal health coverage was going to be achieved.
Alawode expressed concern over the low public investment in health in Nigeria, adding that “we need the media to engage government for more investment and efficiency in the health sector’’.
He noted that the media should play an important role in passing the message across and letting the policy makers know the issues, gaps and problems of achieving and realising the aims of universal health coverage.
“The media has an important role in the area of accountability, holding government accountable for the policy statements they have already made in the health sector and financing the health sector.’’
The co-convener of the programme, Mrs Moji Makanjuola, Executive Director, ISMPH, said most of the diseases, which afflict Nigerians particularly in the rural arrears were preventable.
She said a lot of the people in the rural setting do not have information about health and the media had a vital role to play in disseminating correct health information.
She explained that the Basic Health Care Provision Fund was included in the 2018 budget, which the National Health Act provides that 45 per cent would go to National Primary Health Care Development Agency, while remaining 55 per cent would go to Federal Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Scheme.
“We need to track these and know how they use the fund, we need to know how they intend to build infrastructure that will create demand and supply.
“We need to know the things that are going to be scaled up for Nigerians in the health sector.
“ We also need to see if these facilities will build the needed confidence in the health system that will ensure that Nigerians actually seek treatment from public health facilities,’’ she said.
The Tide gathered that reports that the training is part of deliberate efforts geared towards reforming health care financing, to improve advocacy for health financing reforms in Nigeria.
The training is also targeted at improving the knowledge and awareness of media practitioners on the basics of health financing and components of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
Two United States scientists who unraveled the human micro RNA have won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2024.
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun won the coveted prize for their work on microRNA as their discoveries help explain how complex life emerged on earth and how the human body is made up of a wide variety of different tissues.
MicroRNAs influence how genes – the instructions for life – are controlled inside organisms, including humans.
Every cell in the human body contains the same raw genetic information, locked in our DNA.
However, despite starting with the identical genetic information, the cells of the human body are wildly different in form and function.
The electrical impulses of nerve cells are distinct from the rhythmic beating of heart cells. The metabolic powerhouse that is a liver cell is distinct to a kidney cell, which filters urea out of the blood.
The light-sensing abilities of cells in the retina are different in skillset to white blood cells that produce antibodies to fight infection.
So much variety can arise from the same starting material because of gene expression.
The US scientists were the first to discover microRNAs and how they exerted control on how genes are expressed differently in different tissues.
The medicine and physiology prize winners are selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute.
They said: “Their groundbreaking discovery revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation that turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans.
“It is now known that the human genome codes for over 1,000 microRNAs.”
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has begun acting to curb effects of antibiotic pollution.
The new guidance on wastewater and solid waste management for antibiotic manufacturing sheds light on this important but neglected challenge ahead of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) taking place on 26 September 2024.
The emergence and spread of AMR caused by antibiotic pollution could undermine the effectiveness of antibiotics globally, including the medicines produced at the manufacturing sites responsible for the pollution.
Despite high antibiotic pollution levels being widely documented, the issue is largely unregulated and quality assurance criteria typically do not address environmental emissions. In addition, once distributed, there is a lack of information provided to consumers on how to dispose of antibiotics when they are not used, for example, when they expire or when a course is finished but there is still antibiotic left over.
“Pharmaceutical waste from antibiotic manufacturing can facilitate the emergence of new drug-resistant bacteria, which can spread globally and threaten our health. Controlling pollution from antibiotic production contributes to keeping these life-saving medicines effective for everyone,” said Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO Assistant Director-General for AMR ad interim.
Globally, there is a lack of accessible information on the environmental damage caused by manufacturing of medicines.
“The guidance provides an independent and impartial scientific basis for regulators, procurers, inspectors, and industry themselves to include robust antibiotic pollution control in their standards,” said Dr Maria Neira, Director, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health, WHO. “Critically, the strong focus on transparency will equip buyers, investors and the general public to make decisions that account for manufacturers’ efforts to control antibiotic pollution.”
In a concerted effort to curb brain drain, the Kebbi State Government has harmonised medical doctors’ salaries to be at par with their colleagues in the federal government’s tertiary health facilities.
Kebbi State Commissioner for Health, Musa Inusa-Isma’il, disclosed this at the handing over of ambulances to the state-owned health facilities at the Ministry of Health in Birnin Kebbi yesterday.
Inusa Isma’il, according to a statement by Ahmed Idris, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said the essence of the harmonisation was to retain the existing medical doctors and attract more to the services of the state.
According to him, the doctors across the state had already started enjoying the new salaries from August 2024.
He said the release of the vehicles was in fulfilment of Governor Nasir Idris’ promise to uplift health care services in the state.
“His Excellency said I should inform you, the beneficiaries of this gesture, that the vehicle should be strictly used for the intended purpose. It should not be used for anything else.
“If there is no referral case, each of the vehicles must be parked at the hospital by 6 pm. The governor said you should warn your drivers against reckless driving as well as violating the instructions.
“We should also do everything possible to reciprocate the gesture by working according to the terms and conditions attached,” he advised.
The benefiting health facilities included Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital, Birnin Kebbi; State Teaching Hospital, Kalgo; General Hospital, Argungu; General Hospital, Yauri; General Hospital, Zuru; and General Hospital, Bunza.
In his speech, the permanent secretary of the ministry, Dr Shehu Koko, recalled that the ambulances were handed over to the ministry last Friday by the governor for the onward handover to the benefiting hospitals.
He observed that the ambulances would go a long way in improving the referral system in the state, adding that delays in reaching the secondary and tertiary facilities would be eliminated.
The permanent secretary attributed the high rate of maternal mortality in the country to delays in getting to the health facilities for proper medical care.
“We believe with the provision of these ambulances, part of the gaps we have in our referral system will be addressed, whereby patients who require secondary healthcare could be easily transported to secondary and tertiary health centres, where they can get such help,” he said.
In a goodwill message, Commissioner for Information and Culture Alhaji Yakubu Ahmed expressed gratitude to the governor for the support he has given to the ministry to excel.
While advising the beneficiaries to use the vehicles judiciously, the commissioner advised that services and maintenance of the vehicles must be prompt to derive the maximum benefits from the vehicles.
The commissioner also highlighted some achievements recorded by the government in the last year, including beautification of the state capital, completion of a multimillion-naira ultramodern state secretariat, road construction, construction and renovation of classrooms and upgrading of some health facilities, among others.