By Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
The Benue State Government is exploring innovative and sustainable ways to strengthen healthcare financing as funding from development partners continues to decline.
The state’s Health Domestic Resource Mobilisation Technical Working Group (TWG) made the push during a meeting in Makurdi, where stakeholders discussed strategies to mobilise more local resources for the health sector.
Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Paul Ogwuche, represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Cephas Hough, said the state must strengthen its capacity to finance and sustain key health priorities.
Ogwuche said achieving sustainable healthcare financing would require improved planning, budgeting, financial management, accountability, monitoring and evaluation.
He added that available resources must be efficiently managed to deliver better health outcomes for residents.
According to him, Governor Hyacinth Alia’s administration has demonstrated its commitment to healthcare transformation through investments in infrastructure, medical equipment, primary healthcare facilities and human resources.
The commissioner said the next priority was to expand funding for the sector while ensuring that public spending produces measurable benefits for the people.
Ogwuche described the TWG as a platform for developing practical financing strategies and strengthening collaboration among government agencies, the private sector, development partners, civil society organisations, professional bodies, communities and faith-based organisations.
He stressed that sustainable healthcare delivery requires strategic partnerships because the government cannot independently finance every aspect of the sector.
Also speaking, Programme Manager of the Benue State AIDS Control Agency, Terna Akpaiyo, said increased domestic financing was necessary to sustain progress made through years of partner-supported HIV/AIDS interventions.
Akpaiyo said healthcare financing was not only a funding issue but also a matter of governance and sustainable development.
The meeting reviewed health-sector budget performance and funding gaps, health insurance enrolment and disbursement challenges, as well as opportunities to increase private-sector participation in healthcare financing.
The TWG is expected to support the Alia administration’s efforts to build a resilient health system capable of providing quality healthcare despite declining external support.
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