2018 budget: N57.1b deduction strictly for primary healthcare -Senate

2018 budget: N57.1b deduction strictly for primary healthcare -Senate
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Senator Lanre Tejuoso (APC Ogun Central), has explained that the N57.1billion expected to be realized from the one percent deduction from consolidated revenue fund in the 2018 budget estimates, is strictly meant for the provision of  primary health care service delivery.

Addressing Senate correspondents on the matter in Abuja, Senator Tejuoso further informed that each of the primary healthcare centres will get its allocation directly and not through the 774 local government councils across the country again to ensure that the money is spent for the designed purpose.

The lawmaker, who was flanked by officials of USAID at the media briefing, said the arrangement is a game changer in the health sector that will make health care delivery services available and effective at the grassroots across the country.

“This one per cent is to take care of primary health care and to ensure that pregnant mothers, children can easily just work to nearby clinic to take care of their vaccination and antenatal and simple things like fever.

“The value is about N57.1 billion. The game changer for Nigerian health sector  is implementation of this one per cent. So I decided to focus on it rather than trying to introduce another bill that will not be obeyed”, he said.
He however added that 2% of the N57.1b,  would be set aside for the National Centre for Disease Control, NCDC for control of emergency outbreak of diseases.

Senator Tejuoso said: “As regards the communicable diseases emergencies we realize that the Nigerian government is very good at emergency, whenever there is any outbreak, they are very good at releasing funds for such outbreaks.

“We decided that out of this one per cent deduction from consolidated revenue fund which will amount to N57.1b, 2 per cent will be set aside   for NCDC to control disease.

“In this one per cent, NCDC will get two per cent, that we will be building up over time, the money will not go to TSA, it will just be in a fund for them, when they have an emergency they can access fund from it to fight it”.

By PRNigeria