By
Idongesit Ashameri
Uyo
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have
pledged to partner with their counterparts in the Senate to ensure proper
budgetary allocation for the health sector in the 2017 budget as deliberate
measure to improve quality of lives for Nigerians.
The legislators made the commitment recently, in
Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital at a legislative retreat on immunization,
health financing and national health act, where they identified inadequate
budgetary allocation and poor funding of the health sector as factors
inhibiting quality health care delivery in Nigeria.
The retreat which involved committee chairmen and
members of the House of Representatives stressed that poor funding and
budgetary allocation are barriers to achieving quality health care delivery in
the country.
To tackle these therefore, the lawmakers in the
lower chamber have expressed preparedness to partner with their counterparts in
the Senate to ensure proper budgetary allocation for the health sector in the
2017 budget as deliberate measure to improve quality of lives for Nigerians.
When adequately funded, the lawmakers believe the
health sector could have positive economic benefits as finances expended by
Nigerians on treatment of preventable ailments could be diverted to more useful
ventures.
The legislators also said that the funding gap for
the health sector as well as the non-allocation of funds for the Basic
Healthcare Provision Fund in the 2015 and 2016 budgets has further increased
the vulnerability of the health of Nigerians and the health system.
The House committee chairmen and members who took
this position included the Vice Chairman of Health Care Services Hon. Mohammed
Usman, the Chairman of AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria control, Hon. Davematics
D. E. Ombugadu and a member of Appropriation committee representing the
chairman, Hon. Johnbull Shekarau.
A communique signed by the lawmakers and other
stakeholders who participated in the one day retreat, identified the need for
stronger collaboration between the National Assembly and Civil Society
Organizations (CSOs) in projecting shared commitment towards the achievement of
better quality of health for all Nigerians.
“The poor funding for primary health care as well
as the non-inclusion of not less than one per cent of the Consolidated Revenue
Fund (CRF) in the national budgets of 2015 and 2016 as well as the proposed
2017 budget to finance the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF), as
stipulated by the National Health Act 2014, has caused great concern among many
Nigerians.
Also, the delay in the full implementation of the
National Health Act including the non-allocation of funds for the Basic Health
Care Provision Fund in the 2015 and 2016 budgets has further increased the
vulnerability of the health of Nigerians and the health system.
The communique read: “Again, the need for stronger
collaboration between the National Assembly and Civil Society Organizations
(CSOs) in projecting shared commitment towards the achievement of better
quality of health for all Nigerians is imperative.
The House of Representatives shall work with their
counterparts in the Senate to ensure the allocation of adequate funds for
health particularly immunization, family planning, nutrition and other health
services in the 2017 budget
“And the House Committees shall work with CSOs to
also take necessary actions promptly to ensure budgetary allocation of not less
than one per cent CRF to finance the Basic Health Care Fund in the 2017
budget,” it added.
It charged the National Health Insurance Scheme
(NHIS) to work with stakeholders in the health sector to achieve Universal
Health Coverage for all Nigerians by 2030 with active involvement of states,
communities, CSOs and the private sector.
Furthermore, the communique stressed the need to
clean up the operations of the National Health Insurance Scheme, improve the
accuracy and transparency of the database of enrolees and eliminate corrupt
practices.
Participants, through the communique, developed a
work plan to drive commitment towards working together to ensure its successful
implementation, while the resolutions included a short, medium and long term
plan.
The retreat was organised in collaboration with;
National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), National Health
Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and Federal Ministry of Health and co-sponsored by the
International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), Direct Consulting and Logistics
(DCL), ONE Campaign, Community Health Research Initiative (CHR) and Health
Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON).
Other sponsors are Pharmaceutical Society of
Nigeria (PSN), Civil Society – Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN),
Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP) and Preston
Healthcare Consulting. These were part of the stakeholders who signed the
communiqué.
