Gates: Nigeria Will Achieve Universal Health Coverage Through Strong Primary Healthcare Systems
According to Jeremie Zoungrana, the Country Director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Primary Healthcare (PHC) is a cornerstone of the health system and is capable of preventing, treating, and managing both infectious and non-communicable diseases, and thereby enabling the country to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
Zoungrana called for the improvement of Primary Healthcare systems in the country at the launch of the TA Connect in Abuja. He stated that all lives have equal value, further adding that the foundation envisioned a world where everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life.
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He further explained that the TA Connect is a BMGF Nigeria platform of advancing the government health care strengthening agenda and to support all of the states in the PHCs transformation journey through local organisations that have required competencies. Zoungrana said that the TA Connect initiative would help the states meet their Health Sector Strategic Plan.
Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the Executive Director of the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA), observed that the TA Connect is being targeted at Reproductive Maternal and Child health improving uptake and ensuring that services get to the grassroots and reducing maternal mortality and infant mortality to a barest minimal. He noted that the TA Connect is working in eight states and is expected to expand to all the states across the country.
Dr. Lillian Anomnachi, the Executive Director of TA Connect, explained that the TA Connect is an innovative platform set up to respond to technical assistance priorities aimed at promoting sustainable improvements in the Primary Healthcare systems performance and will be a leading enabler of cost effective TA solutions beyond the Nigerian borders. According to her, TA Connect initiative will promote sustainable improvements and increasing the uptake of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition services across the country.
