An Assessment of Primary Health Care Costs and Resource Requirements in Kaduna and Kano, Nigeria
An Assessment of Primary Health Care Costs and Resource Requirements in Kaduna and Kano, Nigeria
By: Yewande Ogundeji, Hamza Abubakar, Uche Ezeh, Tijjani Hussaini, Nelson Kamau, Eliza Love, Rodrigo Muñoz, Paul Ongboche, Marjorie Opuni, Damian G. Walker, Colin Gilmartin
Publication: Frontiers in Public Health; 19 December 2023. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1226145
Abstract
The availability of quality primary health care (PHC) services in Nigeria is limited. The PHC system faces significant challenges and the improvement and expansion of PHC services is constrained by low government spending on health, especially on PHC. Out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditures dominate health spending in Nigeria and the reliance on OOP payments leads to financial burdens on the poorest and most vulnerable populations. To address these challenges, the Nigerian government has implemented several legislative and policy reforms, including the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act enacted in 2022 to make health insurance mandatory for all Nigerian citizens and residents. This study aimed to determine the costs of providing PHC services at public health facilities in Kaduna and Kano, Nigeria. The authors compared the actual PHC service delivery costs to the normative costs of delivering the Minimum Service Package (MSP) in the two states. (Related project: PHC Costing, Analysis, and Planning (PHC-CAP) Tool)