The Federal Government has inaugurated the distribution of medical equipment and essential drugs valued at over N23 billion nationwide in a bid to strengthen the country’s primary healthcare system.
The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, who performed the inauguration in Abuja on Thursday, said the initiative was aimed at improving healthcare delivery across the country.
Pate while describing the exercise as a “promise kept” under the ongoing health sector reforms, added that it was in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
He cautioned against the diversion of the items, and said that the items, which were jointly worth over N23 billion, were central to revitalising the primary healthcare system.
“ We will strictly monitor the distribution of these items and any form of mismanagement or diversion of public resources will be met with firm action.
“ The ministry will work with the primary health care development agency and we will not condone diversion.
“ I will personally ensure everything is tracked and we’re also working with the security agencies like the EFCC, ICPC and NPF to ensure this,’’ he vowed.
Pate said the development would guarantee safer childbirth, access to vaccines, and treatment of common ailments such as malaria and hypertension at the community level.
According to him, for too long, primary healthcare centres were non-functional, forcing women to travel long distances for delivery, with many losing their lives in the process, while children missed out on life-saving vaccines.
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The minister said, “ But the current initiatives would bring quality health services closer to the people, regardless of location or status.’’
Pate stressed that the distribution was not only about infrastructure, but also the provision of medicines, equipment, and manpower needed to restore public trust in primary healthcare facilities.
The minister recalled that the government began the journey of reform two years ago, stating that the effort was yielding results as Nigerian women were grateful.
In his remarks, the Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Muyi Aina, described the intervention as a landmark step in actualising the Federal Government’s agenda for the health sector.
Aina said that over 500 revitalised Primary Health Centres across the 36 states and the FCT would benefit from the consignment of 56 categories of equipment and 80 types of essential medicines.
He said that the equipment and medicines were jointly valued at more than ₦23 billion , funded by the Federal Government and development partners.
According to him, the distribution builds on earlier interventions, including maternal and neonatal commodities, cold-chain equipment, and solar power installations in over a thousand PHCs nationwide.
Aina said: “ For the health commodities, we have 80 different medicines, worth over N14 billion , we also have 56 different primary healthcare relevant medical equipment here.
“Over N9 billion was spent for these equipment.
“ All these are to be distributed across the 36 states of the federation including the FCT for free.
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“ This support reinforces our determination to crash maternal mortality and close the reproductive health gaps. Nigerians are beginning to feel the touch of leadership.
“ Over 14,000 women are already benefiting from emergency obstetric care, including free caesarean sections and transportation vouchers.”
He further disclosed that in partnership with the Renewed Hope Initiative of the First Lady, kits and other essential materials had been provided in ensuring health care service delivery in the country.
“ Over 69,000 frontline health workers had been trained, while states like Kaduna and Ekiti had already recruited additional skilled birth attendants and community health workers under the Federal Government’s project hope initiative,’’ Aina said.
He urged the states to complement the Federal Government’s gesture by investing more in staffing and equipping their health facilities.
Earlier, the National Coordinator of the Maternal and Newborn Mortality Reduction Innovation and Initiatives (MAMII), Dr Dayo Adeyanju, commended the Federal Government and NPHCDA team.
He described the gestures as a demonstration of the Federal Government’s resolve to safeguard the lives of women and children.
He reiterated his organisation’s commitment to supporting the Nigerian government.
Adeyanju said, “We will ensure that all these efforts reach the last mile and ensure all that the Nigerian women benefit from this noble initiative.”
NAN reports that primary healthcare relevant medical equipment included heat ovens, incubators, diagnostic equipment like, binocular microscopes, autoclave, machines, delivery beds and portable ultrasound machines.
For the health commodities, they range from antimicrobials, antimalarial, analgesics, uterotonics, hematinics, anti-infectives, blood pressure medicine, blood sugar medicine, and family planning commodities.(NAN)
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