The Benue State Government is working on new and sustainable financing mechanisms for the health sector as external funding and support from development partners continue to decline.
The development was discussed at a meeting of the Benue State Health Domestic Resource Mobilisation Technical Working Group in Makurdi.
Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Paul Ogwuche, represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Cephas Hough, said the state needed to strengthen its capacity to independently finance and sustain health priorities.
He said this required stronger planning, budgeting, financial management, accountability, monitoring and evaluation.
“We must strengthen our capacity to finance and sustain our health priorities. This requires stronger planning, budgeting, financial management, accountability, monitoring and evaluation,” Ogwuche said.
He said the administration of Governor Hyacinth Alia had invested in healthcare infrastructure, medical equipment, primary healthcare facilities and human resources.
According to him, the next priority was to increase healthcare funding while ensuring that every naira invested produced measurable results.
Ogwuche described the technical working group as an important platform for developing sustainable healthcare financing strategies and strengthening collaboration among government, the private sector, development partners, civil society organisations, professional bodies, communities and faith-based organisations.
He said government could not single-handedly finance and deliver every aspect of healthcare, making strategic partnerships necessary.
Programme Manager of the Benue State AIDS Control Agency, Terna Akpaiyo, said stronger domestic financing was required to sustain gains achieved through years of partner-supported HIV/AIDS interventions.
Akpaiyo said domestic resource mobilisation was not simply a financial issue but also a matter of governance and development.
The meeting reviewed the state’s health-sector budget performance, funding gaps, health insurance enrolment, disbursement challenges and opportunities for increased private-sector participation.
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