The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says it has so far funded 20 projects valued at N26.278 billion under the N100 billion credit support intervention for the health sector.
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele disclosed this during the inauguration of the Body of Experts (BoE) for Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme in Abuja on Monday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that CBN had introduced a N100 billion credit support intervention for companies in the Health and Pharmaceutical sector in the country.
Emefiele explained that some of the firms that had been able to obtain funding included hospitals, research centres and pharmaceutical industries.
He said that the primary challenges in Nigeria’s healthcare sector were inadequate funding, poor medical infrastructure and supplies, and inequitable distribution of health workers.
According to him, these problems contributed to the rise in medical tourism.
He said the programme was CBN’s proactive measures to cushion the impact of COVID -19 on the economy and to support the growth of the healthcare sector.
The CBN governor noted that the intervention fund would help improve healthcare delivery capacity, while supporting improved production of health related products and services.
Emefiele said to address the health challenges, the apex bank had also initiated the Healthcare Sector Research and Development Intervention Scheme (HSRDIS) to develop vaccines and drugs for infectious diseases.
NAN reports that Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the Director-General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) was appointed to head the body of experts which comprised academics and health experts.
