CBN Intervention Will Reposition Nigeria’s Health Care System -SGF

The recent intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria in the health care sector would reposition the sector for effective service delivery.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha said this while inaugurating the Board of Experts of the Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme in Abuja on Monday.

He warned that Nigeria risks being confronted with another pandemic if the country fails to take advantage of the opportunities presented by COVID-19 to develop the nation’s health infrastructure.

He said, “If we lose the sense of the moment, we will be confronted with another pandemic and we will find ourselves starting all over again.

“If we had built on the experiences of Ebola and other epidemics that we have dealt with in the past, probably today we wouldn’t have started with about two molecular laboratories for the testing of COVID-19.

“If you travel the shores of this country, you will find out that we have over 10,000 public primary healthcare centers scattered in wards and villages across the country, ill-equipped, ineffective, and not being put into use but we keep building them.

“This intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria will set us on the part of recovering our health care system in Nigeria.

“If we did not have the opportunity of reconsidering the reconstruction, of our health infrastructure in this country this is a golden opportunity that has availed itself.”

The apex bank has earmarked over N1.1trn for intervention in the health care as well as other sectors of the economy as a result of the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The SGF appealed to membere of the Board of Experts to also look at governance structures in the healthcare sector apart from their primary responsibilities.

COVID-19 the SGF said has “exposed the weaknesses in the nation’s health system, in our governance system, in our security infrastructure, in our inclusiveness and creating social safety nets for our people.”

He added, “It will be the greatest disappointment of our time and of our generation if we do not seize the opportunity of the moment to redress all the deficiencies of the defects that we’ve had in our health and other infrastructure in this country.”

Speaking earlier, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said that currently, 20 projects valued at ₦26.27bn have been funded under the ₦100bn credit support intervention for the healthcare industry.

He stated that some of the firms that have been able to obtain funding include hospitals, research centers and pharmaceutical industries.

The Director, Development Finance of the CBN Mr. Philip Yila Yusuf said that the CBN has received over 27 proposals from researchers requesting for ₦67bn grant.

The grant, he stated, is to enable them develop vaccines, advanced drugs or manufacturing of different types of products that will enable Nigeria solve different kinds of health care challenges plaguing the country.

Yusuf said “What we have inaugurated today is the Healthcare Research and Development Interventions Scheme. This is a grant to researchers, Institutions that want to embark on research either to develop vaccines or herbal medicines or drugs that could address not only COVID-19 but other infectious diseases that affect our people.”

Yusuf explained that the grant is different from the N100bn health care sector intervention that is for manufacturers, pharmaceuticals, hospitals who want to take money from the Deposit Money Banks to either expand or revitalize theor existing credit lines.