Health Advocates Want more Funding for Family Planning
Health Advocates (NA4H) under the aegis of a coalition of civil society groups in health sector, have called for an increase in the 2023 proposed health budget, especially in Family family.
Alhaji Mohammed Usman, the Chairman NA4H, at a news conference in Abuja, described the 5.7 per per cent allocation as grossly inadequate, given the country’s population of over 200 million.According to him, there is an urgent need to also increase funding for family planning commodities.
Usman said it was regrettable that the government failed to fund family planning in 2022 and the proposed 2023 had no provision for such, mentioning that in spite of the population growth leading to high rate of maternal deaths, insecurity and poverty, the country was yet to accord the desired funding for a sustainable population.
He, however, called on the National Assembly to review the proposed health budget to ensure adequate funding in the final budget.
“In a situation where the current proposed budget is less than N6,000 per head is a very low investment for health of Nigerians.
“There is need for the inclusion of the four million dollars as contained in the nation’s commitment in providing one per cent of its budget to family planning, and improving family planning services through contraceptive use, interventions and counterpart funding.
“We called on the government to also increase the current 5.7 per cent to the 15 per cent agreed at Abuja Declaration.
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He said government should also maintain the one per cent Basic Healthcare Provision Funds as a statutory transfer as provided in the National Health Act,” he added.
Usman also called for an increase in funding for polio eradication and other child-killer disease.
Speaking, Mrs Chika Offor, founder of Vaccine Network for Disease Control (VNDC), said budgeting for health was beyond allocation.
Offor added that government must ensure better implementation, utilisation of funds and evaluation to achieve a vibrant sector. “The budget process enabled health officials to understand the mechanisms used to allocate resources for the health sector.” She said.
Similarly, Alhaji Sani Umar Jabni, District Head of Gagi, Sokoto, said that making the case for increased budget allocation to the health sector was critical if more domestic resources were to be garnered for financing universal health coverage (UHC).
Jabni, who is also Chairman, Association for the Advancement of Family Planning, said that the 2001 African Union (AU) meeting in Abuja, which hosted Heads of State, pledged to devote at least 15 per cent of their annual budgets to improve the health sector.
Jabni said that investments in family planning were an investment in saving the lives of women and children, adding that it would also lead to prosperity for all.
