Nigeria requires about one Trillion naira every year for the provision of a basic minimum package of Health Services for its population.

Director and Secretary, Basic Health Care Provision Fund, Dr Chris Isokpunwu stated this at the bi-monthly Ministerial briefing of the Ministry of Health in Abuja.

Dr. Isokpunwu who said part of the funding will be made available through the National Health Act and the Basic Health Care Provision Fund noted that the Ministry has put systems in place to track the funds disbursed for proper accountability.

He explained that the data from the National Social Insurance Register, there were about eighty-six million poor and vulnerable Nigerians who mostly need healthcare, but only one point two Million persons were captured under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund.

According to Director-General, Nigeria Center for Disease Control, NCDC, Dr Ifedayo Adetifa, although Nigeria had so far recorded about 41 cases of monkeypox and over two thousand cases in 42 other countries, the disease was not yet a global threat.

He said Nigeria is one of the few countries that have the capability to test for the disease.

The Executive Secretary, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Faisal Shuaib represented by the Director of Planning, Research, and Statistics Dr. Abdullahi Garba noted that only 19 percent of Nigerians were fully vaccinated with the COVID-19 Vaccine, a percentage too low to achieve the 70 percent vaccination target by the end of the year.

Dr. Shuaib also added that Nigeria has Eighty-Nine million doses of the COVID-19 Vaccines but is faced with low uptake by the eligible population.

FRCN Abuja/Adetutu Adetule