1% PRIMARY HEALTHCARE FUND IS FOR THE POOR, SAYS PHAMACEUTICAL SOCIETY

“It is something we believed in and I keep on thanking my colleagues in the Senate and also in the House of Representatives – those who were not of the medical profession – who supported us and we all worked hard to make this happen.

“This is an important provision that will definitely improve the life of a lot of our people, especially the poor among us. It will enable them to access medical services that is available and affordable. It will make the country healthier and the country stronger. This is about working for the people and we are going to work hard to make sure that this money is well utilized so that our vision and hope to make our people healthier is realized,” he stated.

He explained that the 1% CRF provision for Primary Healthcare will go a long way to reduce the high rate of both maternal and infant mortality in the country.

“Today statistics has shown that 10 per cent of infant and maternal mortality in the world occurs in Nigeria and this is not something that we should be proud of. We believe with this kind of provision that would soon become a thing of the past. The fact that only one out of four children in Nigeria receive immunization should not be”,Saraki said

“In a country like ours every child should receive immunization and we believe that with this provision we made in the 2018 budget, we are really seeking a new Nigeria as far as primary healthcare is concerned,” he added.