The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex Okoh, has assured that proposed reforms in the health sector being canvassed by the agency would not involve divestiture of the Government from any health facility.
Rather, he explained that the reforms would entail a re-positioning of the health sector to increase private sector participation and funding, thereby improving access to quality healthcare for all and reverse poor health indices in the country.
Okoh gave this hint during the inauguration of the Project Delivery Team (PDT) for the Nigeria Health Sector Reform at the Bureau’s headquarters in Abuja.
The Director General, who was represented at the event by the Director, Post Transaction Management Department of the BPE, Mallam Yusuf Adamu, explained further that the health sector reform was a joint initiative of the BPE and the Federal Ministry of Health.
According to him, the proposed reform is designed to achieve a comprehensive, holistic, partnership-based reform of the health sector towards addressing the challenges facing the health sector in the country.
The Project Delivery Team, which is expected to effectively drive the reform process and make necessary recommendations to the Health Reform Steering Committee (HSRSC) is charged with interfacing with and reviewing the reports of the consultancies and make recommendation to the Steering Committee; and developing a detailed project plan for the reform of the health sector.
The Team is also given the task of designing and driving stakeholder’s sensitization and engagement strategies for a successful reform; and development of a process for identification and selection of the most suitable investors for the health sector and carry out any other activities that may be necessary to ensure successful reform of the Nigerian health sector.
In his remarks at the inauguration ceremony, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Alhaji Abdulaziz Mashi Abdullahi, charged the PDT to work assiduously to meet the desired goals.
Abdullahi, who inaugurated the committee, noted that athough the task ahead for the members of the PDT as highlighted in the Terms of Reference (TOR) may be daunting, it remained achievable given the experience on similar reforms in other developing countries.
