By Edu Abade
Health experts and stakeholders have canvassed for closer synergy and accountability to achieve improved healthcare service delivery to the people of Rivers State.
They stated this on Friday, June 27, 2025 at the second quarterly meeting of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) gateway in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Declaring the meeting open, Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr. Comfort Mekele Igwe, said the government aims to ensure universal access to quality healthcare and the provision of affordable health care services for all Rivers residents, emphasised that the effective management of funds that get to the health sector is very crucial and critical in achieving the critical health goals for Rivers residents.
A statement made available to journalists by the Information and Media Officer of RIVCHPP, Idanye Oruigoni, disclosed that Dr. Igwe also insisted that the Rivers State Government remains committed to strengthening the state’s healthcare system so as to ensure that everyone residing in the state has quality health care services, urging everyone in the sector to work together towards improving the health of the people.
In her welcome remarks, the Acting Executive Secretary of the Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP), Dr. Vetty Agala, who commended the gateway leads and stakeholders at the meeting for their continuous commitment, resilience and collaboration in driving the objectives of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), said their efforts have been instrumental in achieving the progress so far made in the health sector in the state.
Agala restated that the meeting was an avenue for providing a vital platform to strengthen interagency coordination, review the collective progress of the various gateways, identify bottlenecks and co-create practical and sustainable strategies to implement service delivery under the BHCPF.
She commended the MOHs in the 23 councils of the state who, though are not statutory participants, but remain critical to the state’s healthcare outcomes, describing them as frontline implementers at the grassroots level and urged them to share their practical experiences and views that will help to realize improved service delivery at the primary healthcare level.
Speaking, Chairman, Rivers State chapter of MOH, Dr. Keke Rammyson, said the BHCPF has helped to improve healthcare services state bringing about improved infrastructure, provision of drugs and laboratory reagents, more community through sensitizations, among other benefits.
Rammyson, however, advocated for the inclusion of an MOH in the membership of the BHCPF gateways coordination secretariat that was inaugurated at the meeting to make them part of the planning process, which will place them in a better position for smooth implementation and utilization of the funds.
Also, speaking at the meeting, Dr. Simene Sangha of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, said the main objective of the meeting was to address common challenges of the BHCPF, leveraging available institutional resources to address some of the challenges of the BHCPF in Rivers State.
During a review of the second quarter challenges, there were highlights of experiences by representatives of the BHCPF gateways in the state, sharing of challenges and possible ways out with input from MOHs and other stakeholders, as well as the inauguration of a BHCPF coordination Secretariat for the state.
Meanwhile, some of the MOHs who attended the meeting pointed out some of the ways to accomplish efficient utilization of the BHCPF and expressed the hope that if they were involved at the different stages of the BHCPF, they would ensure that funds are properly channeled for the purposes for which they are disbursed.
Rammyson, therefore, canvassed the inclusion of a representative of the MOH in the newly created BHCPF gateway coordination Secretariat to be able to properly cascade the policy decisions of the various gateways to the MOH in the 23 councils of the state.
The meeting was attended by leaders of the four gateways and other stakeholders in the health sector including representatives of Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).
A highpoint of the meeting was the inauguration of the BHCPF gateway coordination Secretariat in Rivers State by Dr. Igwe, who charged the MOHs to ensure that the BHCPF meetings were properly planned and adequately utilized to improve the provision and accessibility of quality healthcare services in all participating health facilities across the state.
Members of the BHCPF gateway coordination Secretariat include Dr. Ireju Ajie, who represents the RIVCHPP; Gift Buduzhi Oguzor, who represents the Rivers State Primary Healthcare Management Board; Dr. Des-wosu Ihuoma of the Department of Public Health, Ministry of Health and representative of the Rivers State Emergency and Ambulance Services (RSEAS).
Dr. Chinonso Nwadike.
Stakeholders applauded the development, saying that the Secretariat will help to coordinate the quarterly meetings as hosted rotationally by the various gateways.
