WEBINAR SERIES 2: Three BHCPF Gateways Talk On The Operation And Flow Of The BHCPF Fund

The second BHCPF webinar meeting took place via zoom on the 1^st of June 2022, with the three Gateways – the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and National Emergency Medical Team (NEMT) present as panelists.

Presentations were on the various agency’s inflow and operations of the BHCPF funds.  Over 100 participants cutting across public and private sector as well as individuals were in attendance. 

Dr. O. Ogbe, the Program Lead for the NPHCDA Gateway explained that the Gateway is responsible for implementing 45% of the BHCPF.  The funds are transmitted through the State Primary Health Care Boards (SPHCBs) to eligible public PHCs as Decentralized Facility Funding (DFF) to meet operational costs for the provision of essential drugs, vaccines, and consumables; Provision and maintenance of facilities, equipment and transport; Community outreaches and Human resources.  

He reiterated that for States to receive and utilize programmatic funds, they must meet certain requirements. Some of these criteria are – the SPHCB must be established by law, a presence of a functional Health Insurance Agency, opening of a dedicated BHCPF account, 25% State counterpart funding and a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with NPHCDA.

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Gateway was represented by Okechukwu Ndaguba, the Assistant General Manager Informal Sector Department.

He spoke on NHIA’s operations and mandate to implement 50% of the BHCPF funds to purchase the Basic Minimum Package of Health Services (BMPHS) for all Nigerians. The BMPHS covers the entire spectrum of care and has been upgraded to also include elements of emergency care at both primary and secondary levels. NHIA’s purchase of service is via capitation on total enrollee, while secondary care payments are based on fee-for-service mechanisms.

According to Dr. Sa’idu Ahmed Dumbuluwa, the National Program Manager, NEMSAS, the core focus of the EMT Gateway is the establishment and operationalization of a National Ambulance Service that enables capacity for emergency response. Their operational flow is designed using an integrated cloud-based EMS software integrated to a service center using an established emergency number ‘112’. This is designed to deliver emergency requests to a response center for optimally deploying ambulances to emergency sites. According to the National Program Manager, the integration of ambulances is structured to deliver efficient interim medical services to patients, as well as transport them to the nearest and appropriate medical treatment center.

The webinar recording is available here >>>

By Jamila Mohammed-Jantabo | LISDEL-BHCPF