Ekiti State Governor, Mr Biodun Oyebanji on Monday flagged off Immunization Plus and Malaria Progress by Accelerating Coverage and Transforming Service (IMPACT) programme.
Part of the components of the programmer is the injection of over N800 million into the health sector as with each of the 177 Primary Health Care facilities in the state receiving N4.6 million Naira Cheque as one-off investment fund.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony, held at the Conference hall of the Governor’s Office, Ado Ekiti, Governor Oyebanji said the IMPACT project which is a World Bank assisted programme represents a crucial step towards his administration’s commitment to the health and well-being of Ekiti people, adding that the project was aimed at reducing under-5 mortality rate in Ekiti.
The Governor said the project, which was consistent with the his administration’s human capital development goal, would complement other existing programmes such as ‘Ulera wa’, Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), and the IMPACT Malaria project, which are all aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality in the State.
Governor Oyebanji, who noted that the result from the 2021 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey indicated that the State needs to work harder to reduce mortality rates, said his administration has already put in place a set of supply and demand side interventions with the primary goal of reducing mortality rates by 2030.
Stressing further, he said ‘Ulera wa’ would provide an explicit but guaranteed package of primary care services for one million persons by 2025, adding that integrating the IMPACT project into the existing and proven interventions should therefore guarantee an increase in coverage and outcomes.
While thanking the World Bank team, led by its Country Director Mr. Shubham Chaudhuri, the Governor said Ekiti is the only State in the country to have secured approval from the World Bank to implement both components of the project, which according to the Governor , is a proof of his administration’s readiness to seize all opportunities available to improve the health of the people.
He then charged the heads of health care facilities to use the fund judiciously, stating that his expectation is that the facilities would use the money to purchase drugs and consumables through the drug management agency, carry out basic renovations, purchase equipment and ensure the availability of data management tools.
“The IMPACT project represents a crucial step forward in our ongoing commitment to the health and well-being of the Ekiti people. As you have heard, the primary objective of this project is to reduce under-5 mortality. This aim is highly consistent with the State’s human capital development goals and complements other existing programs such as ‘Ulera wa’ (our flagship health insurance program), the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), and the IMPACT Malaria project, all of which are aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality in the State.
“Under this program, 177 primary health care facilities will each receive the sum of N4.6m as a one-off investment fund. Facilities are expected to develop work plans that would guide the use of the fund. It is important that these funds are used judiciously. Our focus must be to deploy these resources in a manner that is catalytic and complementary to existing programs. Consequently, I expect facilities to use these funds to purchase drugs and consumables through our Drug Management Agency (DMA), carry out basic renovations, purchase equipment and ensure that data management tools are available”, the Governor said.
Earlier In his address, the Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani thanked the Governor, stressing that Ekiti is currently implementing several programs at the primary health care level among which are, ‘Ulera wa’, impact malarial, and Basic Health Care Provision Fund, among others, adding that all are aimed at ensuring improvement in the health and well-being of Ekiti people.
Also in his remark, the World Bank Country Director, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri said that Ekiti State was chosen as one of the states to benefit from the impact project due to the commitment of the State government to primary health care services, adding that Primary Health Care Project would sustain on delivering quality health care service to the people at the grassroots.
