Borno Inaugurates Steering Committee, Technical Working Group On Pbf/af- Nship

The Borno State Government has inaugurated a Steering Committee and Technical Working Group on Performance Based Financing (PBF) under Additional Financing- Nigeria State Health Investment Project (AF-NSHIP), a World Bank assisted Project.

State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Haruna Mshelia who inaugurated the two separate Committees on Thursday at the Public Health Conference Hall, Eye Hospital, Maiduguri said, the Project in Collaboration with National and State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA) is to strengthen the Health system in the state.

Dr. Mshelia noted that the Project which kick started in June last year in the state aimed at strengthening the institutional process at the Primary Health Care levels (both public and private health facilities) to ensure the quality and quantity of the health care services through reasonable level of autonomy, increased accountability, staff motivation, Health Facility Ownership by Communities in the catchment areas with strict adherence to PBF,which is "Earn according to your Performance".

He explained that with introduction and implementation of AF- NSHIP using PBF based on Memorandum of Understanding with Government, World Bank and contracting Health Facilities, there was a remarkable increase in quality of Child Deliveries, immunization and general health services in the state.

The commissioner who is to serve as Chairman of the State Project Steering Committee (SPSC) of 15 -members include; Commissioners of Finance, Local Government and Emirate Affairs, State Planning Commission, Permanent Secretaries, Directors, representatives of some Women and religious groups. While, the Chairman of the Technical Working Group (TWG) is the Executive Director, Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Sule Meleh with 10 other people as members.

He said, "the roles and responsibilities of the SPSC is to provide overall stewardship, planning, management and monitoring of project activities, review reports of project activities in the benefiting Local Government Areas, liaise with Federal Ministry of Health and other Sectoral ministries as needed and ensure synergy with national health priorities among others.

"While the TWC is to provide operational support and improved supervision to all the council areas within the state, as well as ensure capacity building for Ward Development Committees and Facility Management Committees so they could perform their assigned roles properly".

In his brief remarks, the Executive Director, SPHCDA, Dr. Sule Meleh, represented by Alhaji Kundiri Bukar of Project Implementation Unit (PIU)/AF- NSHIP, said, since the Nigerian Government signed the MOU with World Bank and in view of the achievement recorded in the pilot states of Adamawa, Ondo and Nassarawa states, giving a room for additional five states (Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Taraba and Gombe).

Borno took a lead by payment of 50% of the investment credit to all contracted facilities in the pilot Local Government Areas of Maiduguri and Jere, with scale up approval for additional four LGAs of Askira- Uba, Biu, Kaga and Magumeri.

Meleh also noted that the training and retraining of Officer in Charges (OICs) and Ward Development Chairmen/Chairpersons (WDCs) of the contracted facilities and payments of subsidies for second and third quarter 2017 have been conducted.

In an acceptance speech on behalf of the committees, the Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission, Alhaji Mohammed Kois thanked the state Government and the World Bank for finding them worthy to steer the activities of the project in the state.

He said as members of he highest decision making body of AF-NSHIP/PBF, they will be committed to ensure success of the project which has a direct impact on the lives of the people in the state.