The federal government has disbursed N339 billion through the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) since inception, intensifying pressure on authorities to prove that increased healthcare spending is delivering measurable improvements in access, quality and outcomes for Nigerians.
Muhammad Pate, Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, said the amount disbursed reflected the government’s renewed commitment to strengthening primary healthcare, expanding financial protection and improving access to basic health services.
Pate, who was represented by Uzoma Nwankwo, a director at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, spoke at the BusinessDay Health Conference 2026 in Abuja, with the theme ‘Building Trust, Building Systems: Strengthening the Basic Health Care Provision Fund for Universal Health Coverage.’
But speakers at the conference warned that more money alone will not deliver Universal Health Coverage (UHC) unless Nigeria closes gaps in accountability, healthcare infrastructure, staffing, medicines, referral systems and sustainable financing.
The BHCPF, established under the National Health Act 2014 and operationalised in 2018, is designed to provide catalytic funding for primary healthcare and essential health interventions, particularly for poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
Pate said the government’s health reforms were ultimately being judged by whether Nigerians could obtain quality care when they needed it, rather than by the size of allocations alone.
‘For a family seeking care, choice comes from experience. Whether a health worker is available, whether the prescribed medicine is in stock, whether the cost is explained, and whether a referral leads to treatment, those are the questions against which our financing reforms must be judged,’ he said.
He said the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative, launched in December 2023, was bringing together reforms around governance, equitable and quality healthcare, the health value chain and health security.
According to him, the sector-wide approach was aligning federal and state institutions and development partners around a common plan, budget, reporting framework and implementation strategy.
Pate described the BHCPF as a central financing instrument in the reform programme, but said increased funding also imposed greater responsibility on implementing agencies to demonstrate measurable results.
He explained that the fund operates through four major gateways. The National Primary Health Care Development Agency supports primary healthcare facilities, essential supplies and frontline service readiness, while the National Health Insurance Authority finances a basic package of care for poor and vulnerable Nigerians.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention handles disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness and response, while the emergency medical treatment gateway supports emergency care and transportation.
‘These functions must work together. A patient needs an accessible facility, an affordable service, and a referral that can be completed,’ Pate said.
He said direct facility financing had reached 3,109 primary healthcare centres, with revised arrangements providing quarterly payments of between N600,000 and N800,000, depending on facility categorisation.
Pate also disclosed that about 3,150 incomplete primary healthcare revitalisation projects had been identified across the wider sector programme as of around June, while approximately 78,000 frontline health workers had received training.
He attributed the progress to contributions from the federal government, state-level implementation and development partners, but warned that the gains would not be sustained without adequate staffing, functional equipment and reliable supplies of essential medicines.
Pate said there was evidence of increased utilisation of maternal healthcare services, particularly in local government areas with high maternal mortality burdens, with increased attendance beginning to coincide with declining mortality in some targeted areas.
‘These results concern the targeted areas, and we must continue to improve the quality of our records and checking programme. Families deserve progress that is sustained and can be verified,’ he said.
On health insurance, Pate disclosed that national health insurance enrolment had exceeded 22 million as of July, while BHCPF funding was providing financial coverage for more than two million poor and vulnerable Nigerians. He, however, warned that enrolment must translate into actual access.
‘Financial protection must advance alongside service availability,’ he said. He stressed that beneficiaries must be able to obtain covered services, understand their entitlements and have complaints resolved.
Pate also disclosed that the National Emergency Medical Treatment and Ambulance System (NEMSAS) had recorded more than 830,000 emergency medical transports.
The minister said the federal government deployed 13 ambulances to states on September 4 as part of efforts to strengthen emergency response. According to him, effective emergency care required a connected chain linking dispatch, transportation and receiving facilities.
‘We must assess them against certain standards, address the deficiencies, and verify the improvements,’ he said.
The Minister also criticised poor treatment of patients in public facilities, insisting that Nigerians should receive respectful and transparent care irrespective of their financial circumstances.
‘People should not have to accept poor treatment because they are receiving publicly financed services,’ he said.
Pate stressed that federal government financing could not substitute for the responsibilities of states and local governments, which own and operate most primary healthcare facilities.
On accountability, he disclosed that the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, inaugurated a joint task team on August 17 to identify weaknesses and prevent misuse of health resources.
Under the PECEF 2.0 framework, Pate said authorities were working to improve traceability of health funds from allocation to utilisation.
‘I ask BusinessDay and other media organisations to follow the commitments beyond their announcements. Report good delivery and failure and check whether corrective actions follow,’ he said.
Pate backed legislative efforts to increase statutory allocation to the BHCPF from one percent to two percent of the relevant consolidated revenue base and called for stronger fiscal measures on sugar-sweetened beverages, with part of the revenue channelled into disease prevention.
Health insurance coverage rises to 20% – Anas
Salma Anas, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Health, said Nigeria’s health insurance coverage had risen from less than five percent to about 20 percent in three years, as government reforms seek to accelerate the country’s progress towards UHC by 2030.
Anas said targeted interventions in states and local government areas with high maternal and newborn mortality were also beginning to produce measurable results.
‘Public trust, transparency and accountability remain critical to achieving Universal Health Coverage and ensuring that government spending translates into better health outcomes,’ she said.