President Muhammadu Buhari on December 22 last year presented the 2016 proposed budget estimate of N6.08 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly. Out of the estimate, N257.3bn was proposed for the Ministry of Health.
This represents 4.23% of the budget, lower than that of 2015 (5.78%). Although the capital expenditure budget is 13.86% which is more than 8.73% of the 2015 budget, the health budget's value for this year also ranks the 5th largest allocation.
The proposed budget is now awaiting deliberation and approval by the National Assembly and thereafter presidential assent. However, the proposed 2016 health budget is not only inadequate but is also a far cry from the 15 percent "Abuja declaration". In April 2001, heads of state of African Union countries met in Abuja and pledged to prioritize the development of the health sector by allocating at least 15% of their annual budgets to improve the sector.
In spite of this commitment, a preview of the trends of budgetary allocations over the years shows that the federal government has been allocating between 5 % and 6% of the budget to health, and it has never exceeded that at any point in time while Rwanda, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Malawi, the Central African Republic and Togo have since kept to the promise of the Abuja declaration.
Keeping the "Abuja Declaration" promise will increase the amount of resources spent on health and if spent efficiently, could improve access to quality health services and save lives.
An analysis of the 2016 budget shows loop holes which if not addressed before appropriation will impact negatively on the sector and the health of Nigerians.
A coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under the aegis of Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health (PACFaH) has also expressed concern over the inadequacy of the 2016 budgetary proposal for the country's health sector.
The coalition in a statement signed by the national coordinator, Dr. Judith-Ann Walker, along with their 2016 pre- appropriation health budget analysis made available to Daily Trust, observed that the N257.3bn being proposed for the Ministry of Health is inadequate to achieve the desired goal of ensuring the wellbeing of the citizenry.
" By this allocation and with an estimated population of 173.6million, according to the World Bank, allocation to the healthcare sector by the federal government, on a per capita basis, amounts to N1,488.00 ($7.55, $1=N197). In 2015, with a total allocation of N259.75 billion and an estimated population of 168million, allocation on per capita basis was N1,546.00. In 2014, allocation was N264.46 billion, an estimated of 160million, allocation on per capita basis was N1, 653.00.00," the NGOs said. Other health allocations with other MDAs 24,696,899,693.00 Total Health Allocations at the federal level 282,079,051,439.00 Also analyzing the 2016 proposed health budget, Nigeria country representative of ONE campaign, an international non-governmental organization, Edwin Ikwuoria, says generally, there is an overall increase in health related allocations but a decline in the provisions for the Federal Ministry of Health and its agencies driven by the reduction in recurrent expenditure
Source: All Africa News
