Enahire: FG will depend on donors to settle its $4 million in obligations.
The federal government claims that its $4 million yearly contribution for the procurement of contraceptives via a Basket Fund with outside donors is dependent on donor partners.
On Monday in Abuja, at the Ministerial Bi-Weekly Meeting on the Update on COVID-19 Response and Development in the Country’s Health Sector, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, announced this.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ehanire reaffirmed the financial pledge on behalf of Nigeria in March 2022 with the support of the Federal Executive Council.
Beginning in 2023, the nation, UNFPA, the organization for sexual and reproductive health of the United Nations, and others agreed to split the cost of contraceptives with UNFPA.
The Federal Government should pay $4 million each year to a Basket Fund alongside outside contributors in order to buy contraceptives, as per Nigeria’s FP2020 promise.
The UNFPA and other donors’ contributions make up the majority of the money used to purchase family planning supplies in Nigeria since Nigeria has not committed to this amount since 2018.
To secure sustainable finance for the supply of family planning goods and services, to lessen the extreme donor dependence, particularly in the face of declining foreign assistance, it became imperative to expand domestic financing.
The donor partners who would help the nation pay off this debt were not made public by the minister.
He cited the COVID-19 outbreak as the cause of the $4 million in obligations.
It was because COVID-19 became the government’s top priority at that time that it was unable to pay its counterpart funds for FP.
“We will announce the donation partners as soon as we have finalized the arrangements,” he stated.
The COVID-19 epidemic, according to the minister, has taxed national health budgets and redirected financing from necessary family planning services, underscoring the urgent need to support sexual and reproductive health services during emergencies.
