FG Reassures Effort
FG Reassures Effort to Strengthening Health
System
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), Mr.
Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s
commitment towards strengthening the Health System in Nigeria.
The Permanent Secretary who was represented by the Director,
Department of Health Planning Research and Statistic, (FMOH), Dr.
Emmanuel Meribole, stated this during the Opening Ceremony of the
first World Health Organization (WHO) African Region Value for
Money (VFM),Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshop, held in Abuja,
recently.
Mr. Abdullahi noted that ‘’ The Federal Ministry of Health has
maintained a formidable and long lasting partnership with WHO
Country and Regional office, in the last one or two decades’’
He further said “This Partnership, which is anchored on a common
objective of building a resilient Health System towards
accelerating and sustaining Universal Health Coverage(UHC) has
contributed in no small measure to the current gains and trajectory
in Nigeria’s health system today’’
Mr. Abdullahi stressed that ‘’ the aim of the workshop which is
to support the roll-out of VFM implementation in the African Region
is very apt particularly coming at a time when there is renewed
global and national attention towards improving health outcomes and
achieving Universal Health Coverage’’.
He also said that the VFM in the health sector would maximize
the impact of resources spent towards improving health care system
in Nigeria.
He pointed out that ‘’ it is also about prioritizing our
interventions in the health sector and deriving maximum benefit
from the scarce funds we have. It is about efficiency and
effectiveness’’ the Permanent Secretary added.
To this end, Mr. Abdullahi emphasized that ‘’ this TOT workshop
on value for money organized by the WHO as part of strategies for
implementing the 13th General Program of Work (GPW13) which
encapsulates her reform agenda and the African Region
Transformation Agenda towards UHC is coming at the appropriate
time’’
He informed that ‘’ the Federal Government of Nigeria is
currently investing additional domestic resources amounting to over
180 Million US Dollars annually in addition to her annual budgetary
allocation to the sector’’
Earlier, in his remarks, the WHO Officer In Charge, Nigeria, Dr.
Clement Peters said that ‘’ this training is therefore the first in
the WHO African Region and is expected to enhance the capacity of
trainers who will facilitate in the rollout of VFM and Operational
Planning in their respective Budget Centres’’
He further said that ‘’ it will also equip the trainers with new
tools that will make WHO fit- for- purpose and complete within the
current changing development landscape’’.
Dr. Peters noted that ‘’ WHO Nigeria is privileged and has a
unique opportunity of engaging in VFM implementation, considering
its large operations and re- positioning to better support the
ongoing health reforms in the country. This training brings added
value to our work in Nigeria within the overall framework of
accountability’’.
The Training of Trainers had in attendance over 80 participants
from over 44 countries.
Boade Akinola (Mrs.)
Director, Media and Public Relations