This was even as the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Health Care Services, Muhammad Usman, lamented that Nigeria was the only African country with low budgetary allocation to the health sector.He lamented that based on the agreement by eight African countries during the Abuja declaration to allocate 15% out of the national budget to the health sector, Nigeria was the only country found wanting with an allocation of 4.13 to the sector. Usman noted that unlike Nigeria, the seven other African countries including Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia and Burkina Faso, allocated over 16% of their national budget to boost the healthcare sector in their respective countries.
According to him, the low budgetary allocation was a setback to addressing the health challenges confronting millions of the citizenry in the country. He said: “A major challenge is the low budget spending within the health sector in Nigeria if considered viz a viz what is given to health sectors in other African countries. “During the Abuja declaration it was agreed that 15 per cent of the national budget in each country should be allocated to the health sector. The other countries have allocated 16 per cent and above but Nigeria is having 4.13 per cent. With this low budget how can we address health challenges? “Nigeria is faced with so many diseases; malaria is still a major disease, millions are dying as a result of these diseases affecting Nigerians,” Usman added.
Delivering his keynote address titled “Containing the spread of infectious diseases; how prepared are we?”, former Director General of the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA), Prof. John Idoko, lamented that Nigeria was declining in its budgetary allocation to the health sector. He however recommended a stronger political will, support for partnership and collaboration, data sharing, capacity building, encouraging the academic community to develop and implant an integrated curricula as part of strategies to contain the spread of infectious diseases.
Earlier, the dean, faculty of health sciences NOUN, Dr. Jane Agbu, said the conference provided a unique opportunity for participants to network and explore avenues for national and international exchanges in public health teaching, research and community service
Source:Nationalmirror
