In recent times, the advocacy for family planning has become crucial as demand for reproductive, and population reduction, economic, health care grows. There is no doubt anymore that the benefits of family planning are numerous and if properly executed will go a long way in enabling countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

At July 11, 2017, Family Planning Summit in London, U.K., the  Federal Government of Nigeria updated its commitment and pledged to achieve a modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) of 27 per cent among all women by 2020.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday rolled out the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) appropriated by the National Assembly in the 2018 budget. The BHCPF is the one percent of the federal government Consolidated Revenue and contributions from donor grants set aside to fund the basic health needs of Nigerians.

It is the fundamental funding provided under the National Health Act and was appropriated for the first time in the 2018 budget since the Act was signed in 2014.

The Nigerian government will host the first Lassa Fever International Conference in Abuja to mark the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the disease.

Lassa fever, also known as Lassa hemorrhagic fever (LHF), is a type of viral hemorrhagic fever caused by the Lassa virus. The virus was first isolated 50 years ago in Lassa, a town in Borno State in northeast Nigeria, for which it has been named.

Impressed by the outstanding performance of some states under the Saving One Million Lives Programme for Result (SOML-PforR), the federal government has disbursed more funds.

Yobe State was awarded the highest amount of the newly disbursed funds as it got $29 million (appox. N10.5 billion) being the highest performing state under SOML- PforR in 2018.

The federal government says the yellow cards that were issued in the country will be rendered invalid starting from April 1. The yellow card is the international certificate of vaccination or prophylaxis. The ministry of health said to obtain an e-yellow card, one has to register on the official website in addition to paying N2,000.  

The payment receipt will then be taken along with the applicant’s international passport to any port health services office to get vaccinated so as to complete the process. 

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday said his administration has put in place mechanisms to prevent the possible diversion of the N55bn Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, BHCPF, into private pockets at the expense of vulnerable members of the society. He gave this assurance while speaking at the rollout of the pioneer implementation programme for Nigeria’s BHCPF held at the State House Banquet Hall Abuja, under the brand name “HUWE” which means life.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control has said that at least 992 people died of cholera, Lassa fever, yellow fever and monkeypox in 2018. The center made the data available on its website and stated that Cholera caused 830 deaths, Lassa fever caused 149 deaths, yellow fever killed 13 persons, while there was one confirmed death caused by monkeypox.  

On cholera, the NCDC said, “As at October 29, 2018, a total of 42,466 suspected cases including 830 deaths have been reported from 20 States. The affected states were, Adamawa, Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Ebonyi, FCT, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Yobe, Sokoto, and Zamfara.

Akwa Ibom State Government has purchased medical equipment worth N5 billion for Ibom Specialist Hospital to boost healthcare delivery in the state.

Dominic Ukpong, the state Commissioner for Health, disclosed this when members of the Divine Mandate Campaign Team visited the Paramount Ruler of Eket, Edidem Etim Abia, in Eket recently.

The Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN) has called on governments to ensure Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) is completely free, accessible and without user fee in 2019.

Peter Obialor, Lagos State Coordinator of the group, made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recently in Lagos.

As a collective effort to address Nigeria’s poor healthcare indices and improve human capital development, the federal government, the World Bank Group, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have jointly committed $180 million to fund Universal Health Coverage through the Basic Healthcare Provisions Fund (BHCPF).

This is even as the Chairman of Dangote Group and the Department for International Development (DFID) have pledged to support the fund with $75 million and £50 million respectively over the next five years.