Chioma Umeha
To achieve prompt release and appropriate use of
funds budgeted for health, particularly, family planning, stakeholders have
said that the media should champion the course by monitoring, tracking the
Federal, State budgets for accountability.
The issue was the focus at a two-day capacity
building workshop on ‘Budget Monitoring and Analysis with Health Reporters,’ in
Lagos State where participants were tasked to on proper budget tracking and
adequate funding of the health sector.
Health analysts who spoke at the workshop
organised by the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI)
penultimate weekend, stressed that media’s role has become critical in view of
the growing country’s poor health indices.
One of them, Barrister Ayo Adebusoye, the Chairman,
Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Initiative, (PHSAI) lamenting said, Nigeria
still contributes one of the largest health indices in terms of maternal
mortality rate.
Noting that the workshop is important as health is
life, Adebusoye stressed that the survival and well-being of Nigerians should
be paramount to the government.
Using 2018 Lagos State budget allocation to health
as an illustration, he said; “The State government estimated N1.46 trillion as
overall budget. N92.495 billion goes to
health with a population of 25,615,763 million and 177.5 million allocation to
family planning,” he said, giving the breakdown to show the real value to the
health sector.
He continued; “In order to get the proportional
allocation to health sector as journalists, we need to always place the budget
size over the health budget and multiply by 100.
“8.84 percent is the proportional allocation to
health and by calculations also, 0.2 percent was allocated to family planning.
For per capita budget, place the budget size over the population size, the
result is N40,834 per individual.
“This simply means that, in 2018 Lagos State
budgeted N40,834 for every individual for all sectors which includes;
education, health, welfare amongst others.”
Based on health budget per-capita, only N40 was
budgeted for family planning for every woman of reproductive age in the State
on monthly bases, Adebusoye explained.
He regretted, even with the little amount budgeted
for family planning in 2018, only N48 million was approved, though not
released, noting, “So as a result, Lagos may witness a reverse in the health
sector in 2019.”
According to him, “The implications of the
non-release are not far-fetched, and are very obvious as Lagos Bureau of
Statistics is planning 25 per cent increase in its population, the next fifty
years. That is Lagos is estimated to be 50 million by population.”
Adebusoye who is also the Co-chairman, Lagos State
Accountability Mechanism for Maternal And New Born Child Health (LASAM), said
already we can see the unnecessary loss of lives because there was no proper
planning for their pregnancy.
He added that government as a whole should
increase budget allocated to health sector and not borrowing to pay salary,
stressing that the budget should be followed strictly.
He said; “If government should borrow to
facilitate something that will translate to bringing revenue for growth, there
should be a percentage for borrowing, which is to borrow to start a capital
project.
“Most citizens are just one sickness away from
poverty and when most people get sick it drains all their savings. We have to
look at the situation where at the Federal level we should be able to have four
to five percent health budget as a share of the recommendation by African
countries which is 15 per cent minimum for health budget.
“We don’t like foreign entities funding our health
sector. It is not sustainable and shows our lackadaisical attitude towards the
health sector. The Local Government Health Authorities (LGHA) are so critical.
The National Health Act which came in since 2014 which also recognised the
LGHA. It was inaugurated by the administration of Former Executive Governor of
Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola in 2006. The function of the LGHA is to set
targets for Primary Health Care, coordinate both public and primary health
care.”
He however appealed to the Federal Government to
declare State of Emergency on Maternal and Child health, pointing that there is
need to see increases in health budget allocation and disbursement even as he
hopes that the health sector will be brought to the top agenda of government.
Speaking earlier during his opening remark, Dr.
Edun Omasanjuwa, the Team Lead, NURHI,
was optimistic that at the end of the training, journalists would take
away key knowledge and skill that will be helpful not just in health budget
tracking, but in other aspects of journalism.
He however bemoaned high maternal deaths in the
country. “Nigerian women don’t need to die just because they are carrying out
their physiology responsibilities in the process of pregnancy, giving birth and
nursing the babies,” Omasanjuwa said.
