The federal government has been called upon to increase the budgetary allocation to the health sector, in order to enable an improved healthcare delivery particularly at the Primary Healthcare centers accross the country.
Founder/president of Silver Lining for the Needy Initiative (SLNI), Hauwa Abbas made the call Thursday, while briefing the media during its 10th anniversary celebration in Abuja.
Abbas stressed the need for a revamp of the primary healthcare centers, stressing also the need to equip them with facilities and resource persons to be able to handle the healthcare needs of citizens.
She recalled that in 2001 the federal government pledged to commit 15% of the nation’s budget to healthcare delivery.
According to her, that promised is yet to be redeemed as Nigeria still grapples with achieving 7.5% of that 15% pronoucement amidst daring health needs in the country.
She said “up till now we have not got 7.5% of that 2001 promise. As of 2018 we are only on 4.2% of our buget for health and tjis is not encouraging.
“If Nigeria can commit to the 2001 declaration of 15% budget for healthcare that will do a whole lot in the sector particularly at the primary health care levels because millions of Nigerians live in the rural areas.
” There is need to increase bugetary allocation to the health sector and the money should go into primary healthcare because large population of Nigerians are in rural communities.
“We need to ensure that the primary healthcare center is equipped to serve the people better. Also there is need to have adequate trained healthcare workers at the centers, ” she stressed.
“We have been to a primary healthcare center to organise a programme and a woman was due to give birth and there was no matress on the spring the woman was to give birth on, no blanket or baby cot.
“We had to go buy wrapper immediately because there was nothing to cover the baby and the mother was in such a low financial situation: she was pregnant and abandoned and so she came to the hospital with nothing but if the health center was equipped it would have served both mother and baby better,” she added.
Abbass therefore called on newly reelected President Mohammadu Buhari to bring on board his cabinet, people who are knowledgeable that understands what the issues are so as to implement policies that will develop the sector.
“We need people who can bring out bills or bring out solutions by digging out existing policies because if you look through the policies that currently exists there are lots of good policies that if implemented Nigeria will be better for it,” she said.
SLNI is an NGO that basically caters to the health needs of women and children especially in the grassroots.
As part of activities to mark its 10th anniversary, the organization is launching an academy to train youths between the ages of 18-35 on building their capacity regardless of their educational qualification.
