STAKEHOLDERS CANVASS FOR CLOSER SYNERGY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR IMPROVED HEALTHCARE SERVICES.

Health experts and stakeholders have canvassed for closer synergy and accountability to bring about improved healthcare service delivery to the people of Rivers State.

The call was made today, 27th June, 2025, at the 2nd quarter Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) gateway meeting in Port Harcourt.

In her opening speech, the Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Health, Dr.  Comfort Mekele Igwe said that government aims to ensure universal access and the provision of affordable health care for all Rivers residents, emphasising that the effective management of whatever funds that get to the health sector is very crucial and critical in achieving it.

Dr. Igwe also reiterated that Rivers State Government is working to strengthen the healthcare system in the state and to ensure that everyone residing in the state has quality health care services, urging everyone in the sector to work together.

In her welcome remarks, the Executive Secretary (Ag) of  Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme (RIVCHPP), Dr Vetty Agala, who thanked all 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, saying that their efforts have been instrumental in achieving the progress so far made in the health sector in the state.

Dr. Agala reiterated that the meeting provides a vital platform to strengthen interagency coordination, review the collective progress of the various gateways, identify bottlenecks, and to co-create practical and sustainable strategies to implement service delivery under Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF).

The RIVCHPP boss commended the Medical Officers of Health of the 23 Local Government Areas of the state who though not statutory participants but adjudged critical, describing them as frontline implementers at the LGA level, calling on them to share their on- the- ground experiences and views that will help to bring about improved service delivery at the primary health care level.

Also, speaking at the meeting, Dr. Simene Sangha of Clinton Health Access Initiative said that the main objective of the meeting was to address common challenges of the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), leveraging available institutional resources to address some of the challenges of the BHCPF in Rivers State.

At the meeting, there was a review of the second quarter challenges, highlights of experiences by representatives of the BHCPF gateways in the state, sharing of challenges and possible ways out with input from Medical Officers of Health and other stakeholders, and the inauguration of  a BHCPF Secretariat for the state.