COVID-19: FG to monitor intervention funds released to health institutions, says minister

The Federal Government has said that it would monitor usage of the special intervention funds released to Federal medical and health institutions for the management of COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

The Minister of State, Finance Budget and National Planning, Prince Clement Agba, disclosed this during his monitoring and evaluation visit to the National Hospital Abuja (NHA) and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Jabi, on Tuesday evening.

Agba said he would visit 52 institutions, within the health sector, where government was intervening, to see what they did with the money released to them.

“N500 billion was taken from a special account, with that we set up the intervention fund.

“N128 billion of that was in the health sector and for all the federal medical centres and university teaching hospitals.

“President Muhammadu Buhari approved about N49 billion to be spent in building Intensive Care Units (ICU) and you will find this replicated in 52 medical centres and teaching hospitals across the country,” he said, adding that ICUs cost about N18 billion and a molecular laboratory was also about N18 billion.

“We are also funding the isolation centres in each of these institutions and providing Personal Protective equipment (PPE) for the used of first line medical personnel,” he said.

Agba, however, said that only 50 per cent of the funds were released, adding that more funds would be released after the monitoring and evaluation exercise.

The minister commended the President for his transparency in government, the NHA and FMC Jabi, for the equipment procured for the management of the pandemic.

Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of NHA, Dr Jaf Momoh, commended the government for making the hospital a one stop facility for everything, as he took the minister round the intervention projects within the hospital, pointing out that the hospital would soon commence the use of some of the projects.

Also, the CMD of FMC, Dr Saad Ahmed, said the ICU would be beneficial not only to COVID-19 patients, but all citizens. “The hospital can run tests without sending samples anywhere,” he said.

Commending the Federal Government for their quick response in handling the pandemic, Ahmed said that after the COVID-19, the isolation centre would be used for other diseases.