Events
Date
June 16, 2022
Primary Health Care Policy Dialogue
In June 2022, a policy dialogue on "Strengthening Human Resources for Health and Achieving Sustainable Financing for Primary Health Care" was organized by Nigeria Health Watch in Kano State. The dialogue addressed critical challenges facing Nigeria's Primary Health Care (PHC) system, including the shortage of well-trained and motivated Human Resources for Health (HRH) and inadequate funding.
Kano State served as a backdrop for the discussions, as it had demonstrated commendable initiatives to improve its primary healthcare system. The dialogue highlighted the HRH gap in PHCs, primarily due to insufficient training for health workers, leading to a lack of required qualifications. To address funding challenges and enhance service delivery, the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) and state health insurance schemes like KSCHMA played vital roles. Under BHCPF, 381 PHCs in Kano State received capitation to fund critical interventions, including infrastructure refurbishment, essential medicines procurement, and hiring ad-hoc healthcare workers. Furthermore, KSCHMA provided capitation to over 300 PHCs monthly.
The policy dialogue emphasized the significance of strengthening HRH and health financing at the PHC level. It also sought to identify standards and requirements for primary healthcare service delivery and explored the benefits of private sector involvement in improving PHC services in Nigeria. The insights from the dialogue provided valuable strategies for enhancing healthcare services among all sectors, underscoring the importance of collaborative efforts among stakeholders to achieve effective and sustainable health financing and service delivery across PHCs in Nigeria.
