Nigerian Government must
keep its promise to address health crises and drastically improve the country’s
health systems
Everyday 2000 Nigerian
children and 158 women die because of poor access to basic healthcare.
National Health Act could
save the lives of over 3 million mothers, newborns and children under-5 by 2022
if fully implemented
Campaign launched on 15th
anniversary of Abuja Declaration
A coalition of civil
society organisations has launched a campaign to amplify Nigerian citizens’
demands that the government fulfil its promises and save the health system by
funding the 2014 National Health Act and by allocating 15% of the national
budget to health.
Anti-poverty organisation
ONE and its partners, including Nigeria Health Watch, the Health Reform
Foundation of Nigeria, Africa-Dev, the Women Advocates Research and
Documentation Centre and the Centre for the Right to Health are calling for
improved access to lifesaving health services for all Nigerians.
15 years ago today, all
African governments made a commitment in Abuja to increase health spending to
15% of their national budget. To address the health crises Nigeria is facing,
the coalition today launched a new public health campaign, calling on the
Nigerian government to keep the promise to increase funding for health care.
Successive governments have
failed to deliver on the Abuja commitment and Nigerians – particularly women and
children – continue to die from treatable and preventable diseases.
The historic Abuja
declaration has never been met by Nigerian policy-makers - only 4.37% is
allocated to health in the 2016 Appropriation Bill - and the recent National
Health Act has not yet been funded nor fully implemented.
“We are all hopeful for
change,” says Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu of NHW. “But as responsible citizens, we must
learn how to hold our governments accountable for the promised change.”
Fulfilling the Abuja
promise will make a difference for millions of Nigerians who die needlessly
from lack of access to basic healthcare.
“It’s hard to imagine that
in our beautiful country, millions of Nigerians from Lagos to Wawa, from Sokoto
to Yola, die preventable deaths every year because of poor investment in the
health sector” says Waje, top Nigerian recording artist and ONE’s Strong Girl
campaign activist. I am asking all
Nigerians to join us in calling the implementation of these life-saving plans
and promises, starting with the 2017 budget. This is not beyond Nigeria, I know
it is doable and we need to support government in rolling out those
plans”.
Despite being Africa’s
biggest economy, Nigeria spends relatively little on the health of its citizens
and is facing both a health and a nutrition crisis, as women and children
continue to die from treatable and preventable diseases.
Nigeria’s health
expenditure puts it in the bottom third of the ranking of countries in
sub-Saharan Africa. Out of 49 lower-middle income countries, only seven country
governments spend less per capita than Nigeria does on health. In 2014 this
figure stood at $55 per person - $31
dollars short of the minimum expenditure required to ensure proper health
services
If fully implemented, the
National Health Act could save the lives of over 3 million mothers, newborns
and children under-5 by 2022.
“Nigeria has a large rural
population and many of these people are impoverished. The Nigerian government
owes welfare to her citizens especially in the area of health care delivery
services,” says Dr Nkem Onyejizu, ONE Champion working in Kano state.
“It is also not news that
there are also wide regional disparities in child health indicators in the
North East and North West geopolitical zones of the country which have the
worst child survival indices,” added Dr Onyejizu. “We laud the Nigerian
government plan to build 10,000 PHCs across the country, but these must well
planned, mapped and staffed to ensure success as well as development of a
comprehensive community health insurance scheme.”
President Buhari and the
Minister of Health last year reaffirmed their commitment to prioritising
healthcare by agreeing to pursue the new Sustainable Development Goals. These
goals present an opportunity for government to translate their commitment into
time-bound and measurable outcomes to dramatically cut avoidable deaths of
mothers, children and the marginalised. Now is the time for increased
implementation of these important commitments.
“We urge President Buhari
to keep his promise to increase the quantity and quality of funding to
implement the National Health Act, and ensure all Nigeria’s children not only
survive, but thrive,” says Mwambu Wanendeya, Africa Executive Director of the
ONE Campaign.
ENDS
ONE, Nigerian Health Watch,
Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria, Afri-Dev, WARDC and partners are calling
on the Government of Nigeria to:
Provide additional funding
of 1% of CRF promised for the Basic Care Provision Fund within the National
Health Act and to do so within the 2017 budget and to set a timetable to
achieve the Abuja Declaration commitment to allocate at least 15% of the annual
budget to health by the end of the term of this government in 2019.
Fund the implementation of
the National Health Act starting in the 2017 budget and improve the
implementation rate of allocated budgets to at least 80% by 2017.
Allocate dedicated
resources to benefit all Nigerian women and girls, particularly in the poorest
and the most vulnerable areas.
Increase transparency in
the budget, and particularly in public health procurement processes by
disclosing all procurement documents including signed contracts, bids analysis
and names as well as award decisions and justifications. There must also be an
improvement in the quality and quantity of data in health and poverty
monitoring to measure health outcomes.
Ensure that states allocate
the 15% to the health budget and data is made available on health budgets
allocated and implemented at both the state and federal levels to facilitate
accountability to citizens.
Step up funding for
nutrition in the 2017 budget in line with the national nutrition strategy.
Key elements of the campaign will
include:
Digital creative assets for
online mobilization of citizens.
6 Nigerian music
celebrities are supporting the campaign including Waje, D’Banj, Banky W, MI,
Omawunmi and Yemi Alade.
Citizens’ participation
dialogue on the 26th April in Abuja.
Letter writing and direct
engagement with policy makers in the lead up to the 2017 budget formulation.
Dissemination of ONE’s
report on federal expenditure on health in Nigeria to policy makers and
stakeholders.
The petitions signed by
Nigerian citizens will be delivered to policy makers at strategic moments
leading up to the budget making process.
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