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The Federal Government disbursed N518 million to Sokoto State Government in 2020 as National Healthcare Intervention Fund aimed at enhancing the lives of vulnerable persons in the society, Dr Nasir Sambo, the Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) said.
He made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto on Thursday on the sideline of the official commencement of the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) in partnership with the Sokoto State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (SOCHEMA).
Sambo said the Federal Government remained committed to the attainment of mandatory Universal Health Coverage (UHC) toward ensuring improved healthcare to citizens.
He stressed that the Federal Government remained committed to achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Sambo noted that the National Health Act enshrined one per cent from accrued consolidated national revenue for Basic Healthcare Provision for children, women and the elderly.
He added that each state of the federation and the FCT benefitted from the fund.
He said arrangements had been made to ensure the sustainability of the programme and commended Gov. Aminu Tambuwal for floating a similar programme, where Sokoto government allocated two per cent from its consolidated revenues.
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Sambo added that N8.7 million was also shared to state governments by NHIS as an operational fund to enrol beneficiaries in their respective states.
The executive secretary further said that states were allowed to utilise NHIS’s Information Technology platforms to enrol beneficiaries.
‘” NHIS will continue to support states in the areas of training and capacity building along with other logistics, ” Sambo said.
The Sokoto State Commissioner for Health, Dr Ali Inname, assured government’s commitment in the overall process and urged community and religious leaders to support the exercise.
Alhaji Sani Umar-Jabbi, the District Head of Gagi and Leader of Gagi Primary Healthcare Centre community group which was the venue of the enrollment launch, expressed appreciation over the federal and state government’s commitments.
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Umar-Jabbi assured increased community partnership and mobilisation to achieve the desired results.