The Kogi State Government has been awarded $1, 500, 000 by the World Bank to meet set health targets.
The Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Saka Haruna Audu, received the award on behalf of Kogi State at the ceremonial launch event for the first disbursement of funds to states on the “Saving One Million Lives Program for Results” (SOML-PforR).
While assuring all that the programme’s set objectives would be achieved, he declared that Governor Yahya Bello commitment to honouring memoranda of understanding, fulfilling counterpart funding and making sure that whatever fund or donation, received is used strictly for the purpose it is meant for.
The SOML-PforR is an initiative aimed at reducing maternal and child mortality rates in the country by providing financing to the states based on the results they achieve.
It is a response to the slow progress witnessed in the past in an attempt to curb this alarming situation of child and maternal death. That has been chiefly attributed to the focus being on the input rather than the results achieved there from.
The programme is supported by a $500 million credit from the World Bank, which rewards states with an untied fiscal transfer (grant) from the Federal Government when they achieve improvements in the coverage and quality of key maternal and child Health (MCH) services.
On the overall, 82 per cent of the funds would be available to states based on their performance in four continuous disbursements, implying that any state that does not attain improvement at the end of the year would not receive any further funds from the Federal Government.
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