The motion sponsor said the failure of the NPHCDA to implement the Basic Health Care Provision Fund in his constituency, has resulted in an increase in maternal and infant mortality rates in rural communities.
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The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) to activate the Basic Health Care Provisions Fund and revitalise their hitherto moribund presence in Tafawa Balewa/Dass/Bogoro Federal Constituency of Bauchi State.
The directive follows the adoption of a motion sponsored by Rep. Jafaru Gambo Lecko, who noted that the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), is a programme of the Federal Government that commenced healthcare service delivery in 2021 nationwide.
Rep Lecko noted the agenda to include improving the primary healthcare needs of the rural communities, but regretted that the BHCPF is yet to be fully operational in Dass/Bogoro/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency and other parts of the country.
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According to the lawmaker, “Owing to the non-implementation of the scheme, there has been an astronomical increase in the rate of maternal and infant mortality in the rural areas of Dass/Bogoro/Tafawa Balewa Federal Constituency, Bauchi State, a sad development that has been reported in one of the investigative reports of the Cable Newspaper.”
He also underscored “the need to protect the sanctity of healthcare institutions, insisting that the worth of human lives is unquantifiable and as such it is important for the people especially at the grassroots to receive adequate healthcare for healthy living.”
Rep. Lecko worried that if not quickly addressed in Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro/Dass Federal Constituency, it might spread to other locations across the country and snowball into a National Health Tragedy.
The lawmakers thereafter referred the resolution to the House Committee on Health Services when constituted.
