FCTA Requires $22bn for Public Health Care Funding Gap

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja 

The Federal Capital Territory Administration said it would require $22 billion to close the Primary Health Care (PHC) funding gap in the territory of which the USAID has supported with N14 billion.  

The Secretary, Health and Human Services Secretariat Dr. Abubakar Tafida made the disclosure while briefing the press.

He said it had become necessary to bridge the funding gap given that over six million FCT residents are currently being catered for by health facilities originally targeted to serve between 1.5 million to two million people.

To this end, he noted that the HHSS in collaboration with international partners came up with a system where philanthropists and spirited individuals can help to revitalise PHC through their moral support.

Tafida said the secretariat was currently developing new structures in Primary Health Care centres all in an effort to ensure that services provided are standard. 

“It is not that FCTA is not doing their best, they have revitalised about 83% of the Primary Health Care, we have 154 functional PHC in FCT with at least 83 in minimum operations. They procured $ 2.4 million drugs and consumables were provided to us. There has been a lot of interventions in FCT, there has been the Basic Healthcare Province Fund component. This means one ward one PHC and we have 62 wards in the six Area Council

“We are soliciting support from various organisations and international partners and individuals to come and look at the status of the PHC and revitalise them, we are not asking for money. 

“You can choose one, or ten and support it. We want to drill a borehole so that there can be water for women and children to use,” he said.

He urged well-meaning people in the FCT to look at the state of the system not necessarily within the city and decide which of the PHCs they want to adopt and support.