THE Federal Government has provided N126bn in the Economic Sustainability Plan to upgrade health infrastructure across Federal Medical Centres and teaching hospitals in the country.
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, said this in a speech he delivered on Friday at the virtual celebration of the 21st Anniversary of the Temitayo Awosika Help Foundation.
He said the upgrade would be done in areas such as intensive care units, laboratories and isolation centres in 36 states of the country and the Federal capital Territory.
The minister said, “In order to build resilience in our health system, we have provided N126bn in the Economic Sustainability Plan to upgrade health infrastructure across Federal Medical Centres and teaching hospitals across the country with intensive care units, labs and isolation centres in 36 States and FCT.
“In this period of COVID-19, we still require more collaboration with the international community to tackle health challenges in our country.”
He added, “The Act established the Basic Health Care Provision Fund to increase the fiscal space and overall financing to the health sector to assist Nigeria achieve Universal Health Coverage through revitalisation of Primary Health Care and other schemes.
“The goal is to ensure that quality basic health care services are delivered to the majority of Nigerians irrespective of their location in the country.”
Agba, however, expressed sadness that the advent of COVID-19 and the lockdown of both global and local economies had negatively impacted the gains already achieved in the health sector.
He stated, “Lockdowns and travel restrictions have put public health systems under stress and caused hundreds of millions around the world to lose their livelihoods overnight.
“To stimulate the economy and reduce the impact of COVID-19 on the health sector, this government developed a stimulus package that included fiscal and monetary policies, sectoral interventions and social programmes.”
Agba explained that in continuation of the nation’s development agenda, he had already inaugurated 26 Technical Working Groups for the development of Nigeria Agenda 2050 and the Medium-Term National development Plan (2021-2025).
He said, “They are to succeed the current Nigerian Vision 20:2020, and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020) respectively.
“The plans are expected to address development challenges in all aspects of the country’s national life including healthcare, within the agreed time horizon
