The Bauchi State Government, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has inaugurated a State Steering Committee on Actuarial Analysis to develop modalities for making healthcare services affordable, sustainable, accessible, and equitable across the state.
The committee, comprising members from health sector-related agencies, was inaugurated by the State Commissioner of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Mohammed Sani Dambam, at the end of a three-day capacity-building program funded by UNFPA in collaboration with the Bauchi State Health Contributory Management Agency (BASHCMA).
The training focused on health financing and actuarial analysis and marked the commencement of UNFPA’s support for actuarial analysis in the state.
Inaugurating the committee at the Polio Emergency Operation Centre of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dambam stressed the importance of the committee in ensuring effective and efficient healthcare service delivery.
He charged members to develop strategies that would make healthcare services accessible and equitable to residents, particularly those in the hinterland and vulnerable groups.
Dambam assured the committee that the ministry would provide guidance where necessary and give full support to the successful execution of its assignment.
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Introducing the procured actuarial analysis consulting firm at the end of the three-day workshop, the UNFPA Sexual and Reproductive Health/Health Systems Strengthening Specialist, Dr Oluwatosin Kolade, said the support was important to the state’s efforts to improve healthcare financing.
He said the initiative would contribute to the country’s efforts to reduce maternal and newborn mortality by creating opportunities to mainstream high-impact, low-cost interventions such as family planning into a prepayment financing mechanism through the health benefit package of BASHCMA.
In her message, the UNFPA Resident Representative for Nigeria, Ms Muriel Mafico, reiterated the agency’s commitment to its partnership with the Bauchi State Government, particularly in efforts to achieve zero unmet needs for family planning and zero maternal deaths.
She assured the state that the UNFPA team in Bauchi would continue to work with heads of ministries, departments, and agencies to achieve the objectives of the actuarial analysis and strengthen the state’s social health insurance scheme.
Mafico’s speech, which was read by the Sexual and Reproductive Health Analyst at the UNFPA Bauchi State office, Ms Deborah Tabara, also assured that UNFPA would continue to support a sustainable environment for programs in the state.
She thanked heads of agencies for their support, saying, “We would not have gotten this far without your cooperation and support. As we go on to the remaining parts of the roadmap that will lead us to eventually sustainably finance the social health scheme and family planning, using state-level data to make informed decisions with regard to the Bauchi State actuarial analysis, UNFPA reiterates its commitment to continue to work with the Bauchi State Government and with the key agencies and respective technical staff.”
She added, “We will leave no one behind in this process. We will remain consistent, and we look forward to your cooperation. At the end of the day, it is going to be our data. It’s going to be for the improvement of the lives of women, children, and other vulnerable groups in Bauchi State. We thank you very much, and we look forward to a successful program.”