Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED) has been awarded a $1.1m contract by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to support the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) on effective implementation of Primary Health care Under One Roof (PHCUOR) to improve maternal, new born, child health outcomes .
The Nigeria primary health care system has been be-deviled with several challenges hindering the efficient delivery of PHC services to achieve desired health outcomes and this requires the political commitment at state level for effective national policy implementation. The fragmentation of the PHC delivery system and weak political commitment for its integration are key among the challenges. The role of the Nigerian governors in shaping the policy framework cannot be over emphasized; effective high level policy dialogue with them through the NGF is paramount for change to enhance the implementation of PHCUOR across the States.
The 3 years project is designed to use the platform of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) to strengthen the commitment of Nigerian Governors in the implementation of Primary Health Care under One Roof (PHCUOR). This is in line with the National Health Act (NHAct) to provide an integrated PHC system that enhances better Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) outcomes. The project will work collaboratively with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and National Primary Health Care Development Agency NPHCDA) to generate evidence based information for the NGF secretariat to effectively engage and advocate with the State governors. To achieve this,the project will embed technical assistance to the NGF for its day to day support and effective coordination of its activities as well as to support other BMGF initiatives.
The project hopes to provide sustained advocacy through capacity building of NGF secretariat staff and the use of NGF processes and systems to engage the governors as well as to improve the commitment of the NGF secretariat to own and drive the PHCUOR initiative. The project will also strengthen collaboration between the NPHCDA and FMOH on evidence generation on PHC system for engagement with NGF and other similar influential institutions.
The following deliverables which will contribute towards improving MNCH outcomes are expected at the end of the three years project
- Capacity of the NGF Secretariat strengthened to effectively engage and advocate to the governors on PHCUOR
- NGF committed to implementation of PHCUOR for enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of the PHC system
- Strong partnership established between NGF and FMOH & NPHCDA on PHCUOR
- Tools, guidelines and standards for advocacy and implementation of PHCUOR are developed and used at NGF
