Report diversion of health funds in your communities, minister tasks Nigerians

The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, has advised Nigerians to alert relevant authorities to investigate suspected diversions of health funds in their domains.

Speaking on Channels TV Wednesday, Mr Pate charged Nigerians on behaviour change to realise that “we all lose if we allow few individuals to divert what is meant for providing basic health services in Primary Health Care Centers.”

He cited the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) for primary health care (PHC) and the lack of transparency in its implementation in some states.

In March, the Nigerian government authorised the disbursement of N25 billion through the BHCPF across the states of the federation.

Mr Pate revealed this at the sixth meeting of the BHCPF Ministerial Oversight Committee in Abuja, noting that the allocated funds were earmarked for direct facility financing and workforce incentives across states.

Available data from the BHCPF and the Africa Health Budget Network shows that from 2019 to 2022, funds disbursed through BHCPF summed up to an estimated N89 billion.

Only 7,250 out of the 35,514 Primary Healthcare Centres in the country are currently benefiting from the BHCPF, according to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA).

Ensuring Accountability

To ensure accountability, Mr Pate noted that the government is implementing measures such as public disclosure of spending, hotlines for reporting diversion of funds, and quarterly progress reports.

“When we came in, we assessed, we audited, we looked at the auditor general’s report. We saw the deficits in many states. we engaged the commissioners, and they have action plans to respond to the weaknesses in their fiduciary systems,” he noted.

“When we disbursed for the first quarter of 2024. We did it in public, and we called EFCC and ICPC to keep an eye on, and we provided a hotline and email for Nigerians in the front end to report if there are adverse or diversions of those funds.

“That is so that everyone is kept honest in terms of the use of those public resources for health. And if there’s collusion in the front end if the health worker manning the Primary Health Care Centre takes some of the money and gives it to the senior level official. That is something that Nigeria will have to report.

The need for quarterly reports was signed in a compact with the state governors, and the strategic compact was signed in December 2023 during the unveiling of the health sector renewal investment initiative by President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Pate reiterated that Mr Tinubu’s administration is committed and constantly tracking and trying to improve in terms of accountability measures.

About BHCPF

The federal government established the BHCPF in 2014, under Section 11 of the National Health Act, to provide funding to improve access to primary health care.

It was designed to be financed from not less than one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the federal government and other sources, including donors’ contributions.

The Fund provides a Basic Minimum Package of Health Services (BMPHS) aimed at increasing the fiscal space for health, strengthening the national health system, particularly at the PHC level, and ensuring access to healthcare for all.