Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called for increased budgetary allocation to health, especially primary healthcare.
The CSOs made the call at a Civil Society Summit to deliberate on the proposed 2023 health budget, in Abuja.
The lead director, Centre for social Justice, Mr. Eze Onyekpere, said money budgeted for health without specification should be channeled into funding primary healthcare delivery, nutrition, family planning and vulnerable group funds.
He said the primary healthcare is the sector that touches the lives of the rural people and poor indigent while stressing the need for government to work towards the implementations of various commendable health policies to meet the present day reality.
Onyekpere explained that the CSOs are brainstorming on the policies and plans surrounding the 2023 health budget and to review and make submission to the National Assembly before it pass the budget.
“It is in our best interest to make those recommendations available to the authorities so that they can reflect them in the approved budget rather than wait after the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) have done their part before we start complaining.
“We want more of the policies to be reflected in the budget, we want more money for primary healthcare, which is the healthcare that touches the lives of the poor indigent and rural people, the ordinary Nigerians.
“We want the government to activate the vulnerable group funds under the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act because the law says the government is suppose to make the provision of some money to activate the fund,” he said.
The executive director, PRO, Mr Chris Nwadigo, urged the federal government to observe the Abuja declaration and set aside 15 per cent of its entire budget for the health sector.
Also speaking at the event, the advocacy and engagement advisor, United State Agency for International Development (USAID), Mr. Illiya Yohanna, expressed optimism that advocacy could influence states and actors to set priority for the health care centres and delivery in the country.
