Abstract
Background: A special health fund was established in Nigeria in 2014 and is known as the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF). The fund is equivalent to at least 1% of the Consolidated Revenue of the Federation. The BHCPF will provide additional revenue to fund primary healthcare services and help Nigeria to achieve universal health coverage (UHC). This fund is to be matched with counterpart funds from states and local government areas (LGAs), and is expected to provide at least a basic benefit health package that will cover maternal and child health (MCH) services for pregnant women and under-five children.Objective: To determine the financial feasibility of using the BHCPF to provide a minimum benefit package to cover all pregnant women and under-five children in Nigeria.Methods: The study focused on three states in Nigeria: Imo, Kaduna, and Niger. The feasibility analysis was performed using 3 scenarios but the main analysis was Scenario 1, which was based on the funding of drugs and consumables only. All the costs and revenues were in 2015 levels. The standard costs of a minimum benefit package for the different states were multiplied by the number of target beneficiaries to determine the amount required for the year. Financial feasibility is determined by the excess or otherwise of revenue over costs.Findings: It was found that in the best case funding scenario of using 95% of the CRF with 25% counterpart funding from states and LGAs, the entire available funds were not adequate to cover the benefit package for all the pregnant women and under-five children in the three states. The funds were also inadequate to cover the target beneficiaries that live below the poverty line in two of the states.Conclusion: The BHCPF is a good step toward providing essential MCH services, but the current level of funding will not assure UHC for all the target beneficiaries. However, the available funds should be used immediately to target priority mothers and children such as vulnerable groups, whilst sourcing for additional funds to ensure universal coverage of MCH services.
Highlights
Nigeria has a maternal mortality ratio of 576 per 10,000 live birth and Infant and under-5 mortality rates of 69 and 128 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively [1]
The Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) is equivalent to at least 1% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation and it will be used to provide an essential package of health services to citizens, and to improve the infrastructure, drugs and consumables in primary healthcare facilities in Nigeria. This fund is to be matched with counterpart funds from states and local governments, and will be allocated through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS [50%]), the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA [45%]) and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH [5%])
This paper presents evidence on the financial feasibility of using the BHCPF to provide a basic benefit package of maternal and child health services, which are considered the minimum set of services that such funds should provide
Summary
Nigeria has a maternal mortality ratio of 576 per 10,000 live birth and Infant and under-5 mortality rates of 69 and 128 deaths per 1,000 live births, respectively [1]. The lifetime risk of maternal death indicates that 1 in 30 women in Nigeria will have a death related to pregnancy or childbearing [1] Many of these deaths are preventable, problems with access to health facility, attendance by skilled birth personnel and coverage and quality of health care services contribute to the elevated morbidities and mortalities. The BHCPF will provide additional revenue to fund primary healthcare services and help Nigeria to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) This fund is to be matched with counterpart funds from states and local government areas (LGAs), and is expected to provide at least a basic benefit health package that will cover maternal and child health (MCH) services for pregnant women and under-five children
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
