Lagos primary health centres get SDRF drugs support

At least two Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) in Lagos are now beneficiaries of the Sustainable Drug Revolving Fund (SDRF) initiative, sponsored by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID).

The programme, currently run by the Partnership for Transforming Health Systems II (PATHS2), is aimed at providing quality drugs to patients at affordable rate.

One of the new beneficiaries, Ikotun PHC, received new drugs worth of a hundred thousand as the seed stock. Similarly, Lekki PHC also had pending issues on SDRF capitalisation resolved to receive the first consignment under the initiative.

It would be recalled that Lagos PATHS2 rolled out the programme in December 2012, to join other PATHS2 focal States like Enugu, Jigsaws, Kaduna, and Kano, where the scheme started much earlier.

In the first phase I of the scheme, PATHS2 provided Lagos State some drugs and equipment worth of £1.8m (N411 million) to support services and end out-of-stock syndrome in at least 143 public and private facilities in the state.

To keep the scheme revolving and sustainable in designated PHCs among others, the guideline stipulated that signatories to the operating SDRF account will include community members and not local government council officials.

The scheme is currently in operation in at least 51 PHCs, 18 General Hospitals and six private facilities across the State.

Sharing the recent success story, PATHS2 Voice and Accountability Specialist, Anthonia Bakare, noted that the capitation of Ikotun and Lekki PHCs was an achievement for the Ward Health Committees (WHCs) that worked relentlessly till the facilities met PATHS2/ SDRF requirements.